Just when it seemed that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel and there would be a plan to fix the Oakland Avenue Viaduct, the tunnel got a little bit longer.

Engineers for the contractor, Carmen Paliotta Construction of South Park, Pa., were supposed to present Mercer County officials with a plan to correct the misaligned and unusable bridge, which spans U.S. Route 62, also known as Connelly Boulevard in Sharon, Wednesday.

Instead of a plan officials got a letter, said county Commissioner Olivia M. Lazor. The letter was sent by attorneys who represent High Steel Structures, Inc., Lancaster, Pa.

High Steel, who provided the bulk of the steel for the project, has proposed a process to fix the bridge, Mrs. Lazor said.
Some parts of the plan are agreeable and some are questionable, she said. Lazor did not say what the plan entails.

"We hope to have an agreement by the end of next week," Mrs. Lazor said. She added that county officials are not willing to sign any agreement until the county has been cleared of any responsibility for the bridge's problems.

No work has been done on the viaduct since November 2001 when the county bridge department discovered the steel pedestals that support the bridge are out of alignment by as much as 3 inches in some places.

There are many issues to address with the viaduct, including who's liable for the problems, Mrs. Lazor said. Right now the contractor is asking for another independent engineer to determine who should be responsible and pay to fix the bridge, she said.

"Everyone is acutely aware of, not only the seriousness of this issue, but also the timing. We want the bridge open as soon as possible," she said. The viaduct has been closed since the summer of 2001.

Every plan also has to be approved by PennDOT, Mrs. Lazor said.

"There's still communication back and forth, and that's a positive because we're still talking," she said.

In November, Paliotta submitted a proposal on ways it could correct the bridge's misalignment problem, and both the county and PennDOT accepted it. However, the plan didn't include when and how Paliotta planned to repair the viaduct.

On Jan. 3 the county was presented a "concept proposal" to fix the viaduct. County Commissioner Cloyd E. "Gene" Brenneman said the proposal "wasn't a solution."

A fine of $650 a day is supposed to be levied on the contractor after Feb. 24, the date the contract was extended to complete the project. Fines would be deducted from the amount of money owed to Paliotta. So far the county and state have not paid any money to the company.

Twenty percent off the $3.1 million project will be paid by the county, while the state will pay the other 80 percent.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Kristen Garrett at kgarrett@sharonherald.com