WORK PLANNED — A portion of state Route 7 in Steubenville will be closed Monday while crews test for voids. -- Linda Harris

STEUBENVILLE — Northbound traffic on state Route 7 will grind to a stop for a time at the Washington Street intersection Monday so a contractor can run ground-penetrating radar under the northbound lanes.

But don’t worry, City Engineer Mike Dolak said the delay will be brief — no more than 15 minutes — and will take place between 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

He said they need to stop traffic so a contractor can safely walk that stretch of the highway with a radar unit to make sure voids they’d found under the pavement there were filled when they pumped grout into the holes about a month ago.

He said they’ve used ground-penetrating radar before, under the pavement on John Scott Highway, and said it’s a noninvasive procedure, “non-destructive.”

“There aren’t many ways to check for voids under the pavement without having to dig it up and repave it,” Dolak said. “We’re trying to see if we filled the void or not, or if there’s a void in other areas.”

He said they spotted the problem in early December.

“We noticed pavement had settled in that particular area,” Dolak said. “We closed the lane to traffic and did some core borings and realized there was a void between 3 feet and 4 feet deep in the northbound curb lane.”

Dolak said crews pumped about 19 cubic yards of low-strength mortar into the void. “We think we stabilized it,” he said. “The next step is the ground-penetrating radar — they come in and walk behind the machine, taking pictures of what’s underneath the ground. It can (detect) any more voids we have. We’re going to do it in the lane that’s closed (the right lane) and also in the (left) lane. That’s the reason for the traffic delay.”

The contractor doesn’t expect the stoppage to last more than 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, Dolak said they haven’t figured out what triggered the problem. There was a sewer project in the area in April 2023 and there was a boring done — a pipe was pushed under the pavement for 15 feet or 18 feet — but that normally doesn’t cause voids, he said.

“Right now, we don’t know what caused it, we’re trying to figure it out,” he said.

“We piped 19 cubic yards of the low-strength mortar in there, back in mid-December. We’ve been trying to get some paving down done out there, but all the asphalt plants have shut down, plus it’s too cold — you need at least 35 degrees and rising to pave. It’s not optimal to do (when it’s that cold), but sometimes, you have to.”

Dolak is urging motorists to exercise patience and cooperation. Questions or concerns can be directed to him at (740) 283-6000, ext. 3303.