Culvert repairs: Leavenworth scheduled to open, Parsons to close Sept. 11

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Alan Ricker
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  Leavenworth Street, which has been closed since May 18, is scheduled to reopen for public use Sept. 11, the same day Parsons Street is slated to close.

A detour will be set around Parsons Street to allow access to the dorms and the Child Development Center.

The road closures are due to repairs being made to the base’s culverts, which are defined as pipes designed to allow water to drain and flow under roads or bridges. The project is aimed at reducing the chance of flooding and re-establishing a longer culvert lifespan by replacing eroding pipes with larger ones.

Due to failing concrete and existing erosion problems, the lifespan of the culverts were deteriorating, said Jay McFarland, 22nd Civil Engineer Squadron program management pavement engineer.

The construction on Parsons Street is the last phase of the project. The contract completion date is set for Nov. 5, said John Schwartzbeck, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers McConnell Air Force Base resident engineer.


To install the larger culverts, existing bridges, pipes and concrete structures were demolished. The new culverts are set in widened ditches, bridges were rebuilt and new head walls were constructed.

Schwartzbeck said the new culverts will create less of a bottleneck and open up the drainage system so water is able to flow better in the event of a large amount of rainfall, lessening the chance of either road being shut down in the future due to flooding, allowing McConnell personnel to continue normal operations.