Part of County Road 44 in Jemison will be closed Thursday as city workers replace a culvert pipe under the road.

The section of the road from the intersection with County Road 51 near Jemison Elementary School to the intersection with County Road 42 will be closed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., said Shannon Welch, assistant to Mayor Eddie Reed.

“We’ve got to dig up a culvert pipe and replace it,” Welch said. “With all the rain we’ve had, the road is trying to cave in.”

Welch said the pipe has deteriorated, and rains have chipped away at the side of the road. Workers will put in a new 60-inch pipe and gravel and re-asphalt the road.

The work was scheduled for this week because JES students are out of school on spring break, so the work won’t create problems with parents getting their children to and from school.

Still, the road closing means motorists will have to detour down County Road 42 to Highway 31 North, and then back up County Road 51.