VIADUCT Deal to finish span falls apart

The pact failed because of a late demand by the contractor, PennDOT said.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SHARON, Pa. -- A tentative agreement on finishing construction of the Oakland Avenue Viaduct has fallen through, and Mercer County commissioners are now seeking to use the contractor's performance bond to pay to finish the structure.
No date, however, has been set to resume construction on the bridge, which has been closed for four years.
The county bridge spanning the Shenango Valley Freeway is being replaced in what was supposed to be a $3.6 million contract with the federal government picking up 80 percent of the cost and the state covering the rest.
The county, PennDOT and Carmen Paliotta Co., the contractor have been wrangling for four years over who is responsible for the misalignment of a main beam on the bridge, what corrective action needs to be taken, and who will pay to fix it.
Contractor paid
Paliotta Co., of Library, Pa., has been paid $2.9 million for work completed on the project.
In a release Wednesday, commissioners said that Pennsylvania Department of Transportation had approved a repair plan developed by Paliotta in which he was to have begun work in August to correct the beam misalignment without requiring the structure to be disassembled. The county says the misalignment problem was caused by the contractor.
The tentative agreement provided that the parties could resume litigation after construction was completed.
The release states that a final agreement could not be reached because Paliotta made a "last-minute demand" that the county waive its right under the contract to pursue damages against Paliotta for the construction delay in case Paliotta decided to reinstate his lawsuit against Mercer.
Since Paliotta will not complete bridge construction and because of what the county is calling "unsatisfactory workmanship," Mercer is making its claim on the company's performance bond with the surety company, Fidelity and Deposit Co. of Maryland.
Updating the public
Commissioners state, in the release, that they will continue to update the public on the status of the bridge and disclose what they can without prejudicing their position in pending legal action.
The announcement is a long-awaited break in resolving the situation, which has angered and frustrated Sharon residents unhappy with the closure of a major artery between the north and south sides of town.
It means residents of South Oakland Avenue must detour about five blocks to get to the hospital and business section on East State Street. Bridge closure also has forced area schoolchildren to cross a freeway to get to school.
Commissioners have said they have limited power over bridge contracts, and that PennDOT has the final say in any settlement.