The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

November 19, 2009

UPDATE: Restoring bridge would cost more than replacing it

By Matt Snyder

GREENVILLE — Replacement or restoration are the options for dealing with Greenville’s closed Ohl Street bridge, according to an engineer who’s examined the 100-year-old span over the Shenango River.

Shawn Tunstall, project manager with HDR, Inc., Pittsburgh, presented design ideas to reopen the bridge, which was closed to all traffic on June 1, to Greenville residents Thursday night.

The ultimate decision on what to do with the bridge lies with Mercer County Commissioners, who took their regular business meeting on the road Thursday with a special session in Greenville. Depending on which way they go, it could be 2011 before the bridge is open again.

Tunstall, speaking at an informational meeting on the bridge held after the commissioners meeting, said the bridge can be torn down and replaced with an updated span, or the historic bridge can have its rusted supports replaced and the overall structure reinforced and renovated.

Laying down a new bridge is the cheaper option, Tunstall said, costing $2.3 million. Keeping the historic truss-bridge look on Ohl Street, meanwhile, would cost an estimated $3.8 million.

With a $1.5 million difference, Mayor Richard H. Miller and Greenville Council President Pete Longiotti both seemed to favor the cheaper option.

Nate Clark, Hempfield Township, took issue with the price difference. He said whenever other states examine whether to renovate historic bridges or replace them, the renovated bridges are usually cheaper. He asked why that was not the case on Ohl Street.

Tunstall said renovation can get expensive, since the replacement beams have to be carefully fitted and old ones reinforced. Building a new bridge can sometimes be much simpler and less expensive.

Replacing the Ohl Street bridge would let them go with a new style that doesn’t have the 16-foot clearance limitation, Tunstall said. A new bridge would probably last longer than the renovated version, he said.

Clark pointed out that with the bridge on Main Street, clearance isn’t an issue and tall trucks could take that bridge. He also suggested that better upkeep of the bridge, including painting it properly and more often, could make it last longer.

Proposed replacements would also feature the pedestrian walkway that is also closed on the Ohl Street Bridge. If it were re-built, a blind spot from the eastbound approach that prevents seeing past the end of the bridge could also be eliminated, Tunstall said.

Miller said a decision should be made soon. The town could be in deep trouble if there’s an accident or event that shuts down the bridge on Main Street, said Miller. The Ohl Street bridge is the only other east-west crossing of the Shenango in the borough.

The next-nearest river crossings are on Porter Road in West Salem Township or Wasser Bridge Road in Hempfield Township.

Text Only
Local News
  • Recycling program a bit too popular

    The  county’s effort at going green by encouraging recycling in rural areas has been a tremendous success by most accounts, but isn’t without a few glitches. In Wilmington Township, residents often only have a window of a few minutes to get cardboard recyclables in before the bin is full, prompting a discussion among Mercer County Commissioners Wednesday morning.

    May 25, 2012

  • District will tap reserve fund

    Reynolds school directors plan to fill a $374,567 hole in the 2012-2013 budget with money from the district’s fund balance.

    May 25, 2012

  • School board mulls change to sports chaperone policy

    In order to comply with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, the Sharpsville Area School Board is looking to adjust a chaperone policy it implemented six months ago.

    May 25, 2012

  • Afternoon crash hurts 3 high school students

    Three Jamestown High School students were injured – one seriously – when their pickup left a roadway in southwest Crawford County and crashed into a tree Tuesday afternoon.

    May 24, 2012

  • Board sells some, holds some

    Brookfield Board of Education members voted Tuesday to accept only the bids for the elementary school and the middle school, for a total of $97,050.
    The decision came after an hour-long executive session.

    May 24, 2012

  • Levey: Kohl’s project died with school vote

    Stripped of the necessity of voting for a tax incremental finance plan by Hermitage School Board’s unwillingness to participate, Mercer County commissioners said Wednesday they would like to meet with school board and Hermitage city officials to discuss other ways they can help Levey and Co. build a retail development in the city.

    But Levey spokeswoman Jeffrey A. Mills said there is nothing to discuss.

    May 24, 2012

  • Warden expects hectic season at county jail

    With the unofficial start of summer just a few days away, Mercer County Jail officials are preparing for a busy season.

    May 23, 2012

  • Levey officially drops TIF request

    Levey & Co. has officially ended its request for a tax incremental financing plan to build a retail development anchored by a Kohl’s department store.

    May 23, 2012

  • Grant will pay to fix 12-15 homes



    The City of Farrell will be able to fix up about a dozen homes in the city thanks to a $300,000 HOME grant from the state.

    May 23, 2012

  • Hard budget choices yet to come


     
    Hermitage School Board has been fortunate in many ways during the economic downturn that has been so hard on many other schools.

    May 23, 2012