Klamath County declares local emergency after South Alameda culvert collapse

Klamath County commissioners declared a local emergency on Dec. 16 after a county inspection found a collapsed concrete box culvert under South Alameda Avenue that required immediate repair.

The county's public works director told the board the collapse occurred beneath the sidewalk adjacent to Bay Canal and near Crater Lake Parkway and that crews closed about 200 yards of roadway to allow school buses and other traffic to turn. "It's truly an emergency," the director said, urging the county to hire a contractor quickly to dig up and replace the culvert rather than wait for a standard design and bidding process.

An unidentified board member moved to adopt a declaration of local emergency related to the collapsed concrete box culvert; the motion was seconded and the board recorded aye votes and passed the declaration. The board did not record a roll call by name in the transcript, but the motion was put before the body and approved by voice vote.

County staff described the scale of the infrastructure challenge: the county manages about 860 miles of roads and roughly 12,000 culverts. "This one's, like, 80 years old," the director said, and speakers emphasized that inspecting and proactively replacing aging culverts is labor-intensive. Staff warned that leaving the road closed for months while following a full design-and-bid process would be impractical and would pose public-safety risks, particularly with worsening winter weather forecast.

After the vote, staff noted next steps: advertise and retain a contractor to perform emergency excavation and replacement, complete property-control and insurance paperwork for any asset transfers associated with the work, and coordinate traffic and school routing while repairs proceed.

The board moved on to other agenda items after recording the emergency declaration; staff said they would return with details and procurement documentation as the emergency repair proceeds.