MERCER, PA. Officials set deadline for planning viaduct adjustment

PennDOT will step in if the Dec. 1 deadline isn't met.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
MERCER, Pa. -- The contractor replacing the Oakland Avenue Viaduct in Sharon has until Dec. 1 to have a plan in place to correct a bridge misalignment, or the state will step in to devise its own plan.
The bridge is owned by Mercer County, but the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is overseeing the $3.6 million replacement project that was to have been completed in November 2001. The state is putting up 20 percent of the cost, with the rest coming from a federal grant.
The county halted work on the project as the contractor, Carmen Paliotta Contracting Inc. of Library, Pa., was about to pour the concrete deck. No work has been done on the structure since October 2001.
Since then, the county, PennDOT and the contractor have worked on developing an acceptable plan to correct the misalignment that gave the bridge a slight "S" shape.
On Friday, the Mercer County commissioners said they've had enough, and the contractor is being given a hard and fast deadline to come up with a corrective plan.
PennDOT's agreement
The commissioners and Sharon city officials met with PennDOT representatives in Oil City a week ago, and PennDOT "stepped up to the plate," promising to take over the job if the contractor fails to have a plan in place by Dec. 1, said Gene Brenneman, chairman of the board of county commissioners.
The county, with PennDOT's blessing, sent a letter Friday to Carmen Paliotta Contracting outlining the terms of the company's final opportunity to come up with an acceptable plan, Brenneman said.
The letter tells the contractor that the plan, along with a detailed construction schedule, must be in PennDOT's hands and have PennDOT approval no later than Dec. 1.
If the company fails to meet that deadline, PennDOT will take on the responsibility of planning, Brenneman said.
That state plan will be presented to the contractor no later than Feb. 28, 2004, and the contractor must begin implementing it within 30 days, the letter said.
Mark Miller, county bridge engineer, estimated it will take about two months to complete work on the bridge, putting the opening around late May or early June 2004.
At issue
The county has said the misalignment is the fault of the contractor because the concrete pedestals supporting the 300-foot span are not level.
The contractor, through Atty. D. Matthew Jameson III of Pittsburgh, blamed the county for the problem in a Sept. 10, 2003, letter, alleging that a county inspector instructed workers to use stone beneath the pedestals rather than concrete as was called for in the contract.
The stone settled, causing the pedestals to shift, the company said.
County officials have denied that such an order was ever given.
Commissioner Olivia Lazor said all change orders are carefully documented by everyone involved. There is no documentation anywhere supporting the contractor's contention.
Jameson didn't return a telephone call seeking comment on the county's latest position on the project.
Covering costs
Brenneman said any additional costs resulting from PennDOT's development of a plan and the actual work being done will be borne by the contractor or the contractor's bonding company.
Carmen Paliotta already has been paid $2.9 million for work completed, but the county began assessing a $650-a-day penalty against the company Feb. 24 because it hadn't finished the work.
That penalty now amounts to more than $160,000 and was supposed to be deducted from the contractor's final payment, but the penalty may never be realized.
It will be a matter of negotiations between the contractor and PennDOT, Commissioner Kenneth Seamans said.
There are additional problems with the bridge pedestals that have surfaced since the misalignment was discovered, Brenneman said.
The concrete is chipping away and the pedestals have minor cracks. Some are actually twisted, he said.
Lazor said there also are problems with a 5-foot culvert running beneath the Shenango Valley Freeway directly below the bridge.
Despite precautions to protect the road, the culvert was broken when the contractor imploded the old concrete bridge and it dropped onto the road.
Repair of that culvert is also the contractor's responsibility, Lazor said.
Although getting the bridge finished is a priority, both city and county officials said they expect the matter to eventually wind up in litigation.