State funding has been approved to repair a massive slip on County Road 32. This will be the third time since 2000 for repairs to that roadway.

“We closed the road last Friday because the landslide got worse due to last week’s rain where the road was unsafe to use,” Lawrence County Engineer Doug Cade said.

On Monday Cade contacted the Ohio Public Works Commission to request emergency funding through its emergency assistance program.

“We were notified Wednesday that they were giving us a 90 percent grant to assist in repairing that landslide,” Cade said.

Cost of the repair work is estimated to be $401,000. The remainder will come from the county’s portion of the Motor Vehicle Gas Tax.

The road had been the site of repair work in 2000 and 2007. This time crews will install drilled shaft pilings.

“With those we will have to go pretty deep in order to make sure we have a permanent repair,” Cade said.

An outside contractor will be used with construction expected to begin in January. A consultant has been called in to handle the design work, which should take up to 60 days. Then the project will go out to bid for 30 days.