Newburgh gets federal grant to repair landslide

NEWBURGH, Ind. — A southern Indiana city on the Ohio River has been awarded a $380,000 federal grant to help repair a slumping hillside near a historic park.

The Courier & Press of Evansville reports (http://bit.ly/AuZZek ) the grant was awarded by the Emergency Watershed Program overseen by the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The newspaper says the money will be used to drive concrete pilings to stabilize the hillside, which began to collapse after heavy rains in May 2011. The landslide has endangered the two historic lockmaster cottages used by the lockmaster and his assistant from 1928 to 1975.

The grant will pay for 75 percent of the cost of repairing the hillside. The town must put in the other 25 percent in local funding. Town officials estimate total repairs will cost $510,000.