UNION TOWNSHIP - It's a matter of correcting Mother Nature's goof.

Work will begin Monday to repair a hillside slip on State Route 243 in Union Township between the 16- and 17-mile markers. The earth beneath some 900 feet of roadway began sliding toward Symmes Creek earlier this year, taking pavement with it.

"They're going to drill 36-inch shafts and then fill them with concrete," said Larry Norris, a transportation manager for the Ohio Department of Transportation Lawrence County garage. "Essentially, they're building a retaining wall down the side of the road."

Ruhlin Construction of Sharonville was the lower bidder for the roughly $1 million project.

It is one of approximately 20 emergency road repair projects in the county this year that will be paid for through federal money.

Norris said the project may be completed by the end of August, but could require more time "depending on what they find once they get started."

One-lane traffic should be maintained with the use of temporary road signals.

ODOT officials said earlier this year that nearly all of the county's state routes are in need of repair in one area or another because of hillside slips. They blame the extremely wet weather during the last two years.

Excessive rain, they said, has made the county's soil unstable and prone to slide.