SHARON, PA. Letter says Mercer Co. caused viaduct delay

The bridge contractor's lawyer said the county caused the two-year delay.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa.-- City council's plan to have a meeting on the Oakland Avenue Viaduct project with Mercer County commissioners and representatives of the bridge contractor may have hit a snag.
A letter from the contractor, Carmen Paliotta Contracting Inc. of Library, Pa., sent to the county with a copy to city council last week, placed the blame for the two-year delay in finishing the project squarely on the county.
The letter said Carmen Paliotta, company president, is willing to attend city council's meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, but only if the county doesn't object.
County officials said that, in light of the letter and its threat of litigation, they might not attend the meeting, either.
The viaduct, spanning the Shenango Valley Freeway, is owned by the county and was to be replaced in a $3.6 million project in 2001. Funds came from the federal and state governments.
The old bridge was demolished and the new one erected, but the county stopped work on the job when it was learned there was a misalignment of the structure that gave it a slight "S" shape.
County officials said they have been working ever since to get that misalignment problem corrected and pointed the finger at the contractor as the cause of the delays.
Not so, said Atty. Matthew Jameson III, attorney for CPCI, in his Sept. 10 letter to the county.
"For nearly two years, we have been providing the county with information and evidence showing that CPCI has not caused the problems with the bridge," he wrote.
Cause of problem
The misalignment can be traced to the base material beneath the footings and bridge pedestals, Jameson added.
The contract called for CPCI to place Class C concrete beneath the footings and pedestals, but it was a county's on-site inspector who directed the contractor to fill the area with stone instead.
That stone apparently settled, causing the misalignment, Jameson said.
Although everyone agreed the bridge was structurally sound, CPCI sent the county several corrective plans to resolve the alignment problem. The county kept coming back asking for more information, Jameson said.
There was even a suggestion that the parties hire an independent engineer to evaluate the project, propose a repair plan and serve as an independent arbitrator to determine each party's percentage of fault for the problem.
Each party would pay for its percentage of the repair, Jameson said, noting the county rejected that proposal as well.
He indicated the matter may wind up in litigation and warned that if a plan isn't finalized by the end of September, CPCI won't be able to finish the bridge this year.
Gene Brenneman, county commissioner chairman, said the commissioners would meet today with their solicitor and the county bridge engineer to review Jameson's letter, assess where they stand and decide if anyone will attend council's meeting.
Fred Hoffman, council president, said city officials are getting the blame for the bridge delay, but they have no involvement in the county project and wanted those responsible to explain the delays to the public.
gwin@vindy.com