Matt Hamilton/Daily Citizen-NewsOfficials with Dalton Public Works say 16 months of heavy rains have caused one lane of Botany Woods Drive to fail. They are working with engineers to find a way to shore up the street before the other lane fails.

DALTON, Ga. — Dalton Public Works is moving to shore up Botany Woods Drive. One lane of the road has given way because of massive rains, and officials say they need to move as quickly as they can before the other lane fails.

The road is just off College Drive.

“We’ve had to close the westbound lane about 200 feet,” said Assistant Public Works Director Andrew Parker. “About 18 homes are affected up there on the ridge. It’s not a through road, so only those homeowners are affected. But our concern is that it is the only way in and out. If the slope failure continues to worsen, it could potentially compromise the only remaining lane.”

Parker said the problem is that water from the rains during the last 16 months or so has weakened the soil underneath the road.

“Last year was the wettest year on record in the Tennessee Valley area, and in the Atlanta area it was the second wettest year on record,” he said. “So far this year, we are already exceeding the rainfall we had last year.”

Parker said the department brought in a geotechnical engineer last week to take soil samples and is now working with a structural engineer to design a wall along the road to hold the soil back.

Parker said the difficult part will be getting a contractor to do the work in a timely manner. He said it is specialized work that only a few are qualified to do.

“We’ve already talked to one. He is busy, but we’ve let him know this is emergency work, and we hope to have somebody on site by the middle of this month,” he said.