Published Friday, August 16, 2002
SHARON
By Tom Fontaine
Sharon Mayor David O. Ryan on Thursday gave Sharon Council members an update of the $3.5 million Oakland Avenue Viaduct project, which has been on hold since a three-inch misalignment was discovered last year in the bridge's steel beams.
Ryan reported that Mercer County and PennDOT officials expect to receive an engineer's report either today or Monday indicating whether the misalignment will have a negative impact on the safety or longevity of the bridge.
The officials have said they anticipate that the report -- prepared by an engineering company for viaduct contractor Carmen Paliotta of South Park, Pa. -- will say the misalignment should have no negative long-term impact, Ryan said.
"The project engineers are saying the amount of stress caused by the misalignment is minimal and should have no affect on the safety or longevity of the bridge," Ryan said.
"The county engineer and PennDOT don't agree with that and think the stress could be greater than what's allowed," Ryan added.
Mercer Couty Bridge Department Engineer Mark Miller said that after receiving the report, the Mercer County Bridge Department, PennDOT and a design engineer for the two parties will spend up to two weeks reviewing the report to determine if it is acceptable, according to county Bridge Department Engineer Mark Miller.
If it is acceptable, work on the bridge could resume, Miller said. If the report is unacceptable and it is determined that the contractor is at fault, the contractor's bonding company could be asked to step in.
"The county and state officials want to be sure that the bridge is going to be safe and structurally sound not just right now, but years down the road," Ryan said.