Published Wednesday, July 24, 2002
Herald Staff Writer
It's been almost nine months since any work has been done on the Oakland Avenue Viaduct in Sharon, and Mercer County officials say they don't know when work will resume.
Engineers for the county, state and viaduct contractor Carmen Paliotta Construction of South Park, Pa, have all been trying to determine if a 3-inch misalignment of the bridge's steel beams will affect the overall safety and longevity of the structure.
The steel beams are bowed in places because the concrete pads under the bridge that hold the feet of the beams were not aligned with the top of the beams, county bridge officials said. The misalignment could affect how the bridge holds up over time.
Mark Miller, Mercer County Bridge Department engineer, said he expects to have a report today from the contractor's engineers. County and PennDOT engineers will then collaborate and analyze the report to determine if they can allow work to continue on the $3.5 million project.
Carmen Paliotta Construction has not yet exceeded their deadline for the construction, Miller said. He said the deadline has been suspended while engineers are assessing the situation.
The viaduct was supposed to completed last Nov. 30.
Once the clock starts ticking again, Miller said the company doesn't have "much time left" to complete the job but said he didn't have the exact number of days available.
Mercer County President Commissioner Cloyd E. "Gene" Brenneman said the state is the lead party for the project not the county, but he said everyone involved is trying to get the matter settled.
It's "a little premature" for county officials to look at exercising their legal rights on the project as far as notifying the contractor's bonding company, Brenneman said.
A bond ensures that if a contractor goes bankrupt, defaults, fails to do a job properly or leaves a job unfinished, the work will be completed at no extra cost to the state or county.
Any public works project requires two types of bonds, performance and payment, according to Scott Irmscher, an attorney with Buchanan Ingersoll, Pittsburgh. Officials would look to the performance bond in a case like the viaduct, he said.
Whether or not a bonding company gets involved with finishing a project depends on several things, Irmscher said. One variable is who is at fault for the mistake, the engineers who designed the bridge or the contractor who built it. He said in situations like the viaduct it's not uncommon to have some debate about who is at fault.
If it is determined the contractor is at fault, and the contractor cannot complete the job, then the bond company would step in, Irmscher said. He added that the bond company could protest if they don't think the contractor is at fault.
Federal funds will pay for 80 percent of the project while state funds will pay for the other 20 percent.
You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Kristen Garrett at kgarrett@sharon-herald.com