Tatamy Bridge Demolition Slow to Get Started

A wary Tatamy Borough Council heard Monday night that demolition work -- originally slated to begin in June -- on the closed could possibly begin in December.

Officials from Bi-State Construction in Easton said in May on the new bridge in June, but due to state Department of Environmental Protection clearances, a UGI gas line that is attached to the bridge, and a property easement issue, the construction timeline continues to be bumped back.

Council President Chris Moren told council he received a letter Nov. 4 from Greg DeNardo, president of Bi-State, which received the contract to replace the bridge from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. In the letter, DeNardo outlined the status of the issues that have been stalling the bridge’s demolition and construction.

DeNardo said in the letter that Gary Ickowicz, from New York, N.Y. and owner of the land where Equipto is located, has received his compensation for a temporary construction easement from PennDOT, Moren said. Four easements had to be agreed upon and compensated. Ickowicz was the last property owner to agree to the terms.

The letter also stated that UGI will remove a gas line -- which is attached to the bridge -- sometime between Nov. 15 and 18. The work date is dependent on when the DEP gives the utility company clearance for a stream-crossing permit, according to Moren.

Dan Adamo, director of business development for UGI, said in August the company plans to directional drill on the north side of the Bushkill Creek and relocate the gas line beneath the creek bed. The work will take three to four weeks, the letter stated. After that, storm line work will begin in December in preparation for the bridge demolition, Moren added.

“We’ll see,” said Hazel DeReamus, council's finance committee chairperson.

The Main Street Bridge was closed by PennDOT in mid-May when a large punch-through hole was discovered on the deck of the bridge, which connects Main Street in Tatamy to Uhler Road in Forks Township.

The new bridge is designed to be 195 feet long and 42.5 feet wide, said PennDOT spokesman Ron Young in a previous interview. The current bridge is 189 feet long and 22 feet wide. Both bridges are for two lanes. The new bridge was slated to be completed by the fall of 2012.

The Main Street Bridge is the second bridge in Tatamy to be closed. In 2002, a bridge spanning the Bushkill Creek and connecting Eighth Street in Tatamy and a small portion of Palmer Township with Stockertown collapsed. A bridge support fell into a sinkhole. This bridge was removed and PennDOT has decided not to replace it, Young said.