Engineers have begun removing bricks from the Zimmer Road roundabout to determine why the design is failing. (Photo provided by Tim Ellis)

Work has begun on the Zimmer Road roundabout in Warsaw to determine why the design failed.

INDOT officials were at the roundabout this morning placing cones around the work area. According to Kosciusko County Administrator Ron Robinson, officials of E & B Paving Inc. of Anderson that engineered the project and The Troyer Group of Mishawaka, which designed the roundabout, are in the process of removing bricks today to determine why the structure collapsed.

The roundabout, which was completed in November 2012, began to experience structural malfunctions this spring after a heavy rain. According to Robinson, problems with the construction began showing up after a vehicle ran into part of it. Though that damage did lead to the pursuit of an insurance claim, Robinson said it wasn’t until the county received roughly 5 to 7 inches of rain that the real problems began to emerge.

Although the exact reason for the collapse is not yet known, “They’re removing the brick today to figure out why it retained the water,” said Robinson. That process will likely take a couple of days. After that, repair work will resume. Robinson said the entire process will likely take up to 3 weeks, but the county is not paying for any of the repair work.

E & B Paving Inc. in Anderson was awarded the contract to construct the roundabout last year with the low bid of $2,262,701. The original cost to the county was approximately $452,540.