Lake undermining walkway end section next to King’s View Condos – Today’s News-Herald

The end section of sidewalk in front of King’s View Condos was closed to pedestrians this week after the city found slight movement and a structural problem with Lake Havasu water washing underneath the walkway.

City maintenance workers are expected to better survey the extent of the damage Monday and begin shoring up the sidewalk. The city requested the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation lower the Lake by a foot so there is more room for crews to start the work.

When the city was first notified of the problem by the King’s View Condo residents it didn’t seem to be an immediate problem, said City Manager Charlie Cassens. “But it got worse quickly.”

“We sent construction engineering crews to get in there and take a look at it,” Cassens said. And they determined there was an immediate need to fix the problem, he said.

At the end of the beach, it’s easy for water enthusiasts to simply see that ground has given way and the Lake’s water now is flowing underneath the walkway.

The full extent of the problem is uncertain.

“We don’t know what we have until we open it up,” Cassens said. Yet, he did add it appears the sidewalk has moved away from the deck about a quarter of an inch.

The city has not had trouble with the sidewalk in that area before, Cassens said. It was constructed as part of the King’s View Condo work and not by the city itself, but the walkway subsequently became city property, he said.

Cassens said the city might end up putting in a deeper footing for the sidewalk and the work would at least involve backfilling the area underneath the sidewalk and putting rip-rap next to the sidewalk to shore it up.

The city may end up sawing away a panel of the sidewalk to get a better look at the problem, Cassens said.

“We want the work done as quickly as possible,” Cassens said. He said he didn’t want the water level lower than it normally would be this time of year longer than absolutely necessary.

“Hopefully, the work will only take a day or two,” Cassens said.

You may contact the reporter at gmoberly@havasunews.com.