The money’s in place and the plans are nearing completion for
renovations at the Kinzua Bridge State Park – but access to the
fallen viaduct could pose a problem for the state.
“Under ideal conditions, we could go to bid this fall,” said
Terry Brady, deputy press secretary of the Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources. “Ideal conditions include
access to the site and access to the bridge.”
The area surrounding the bridge is not all owned by the DCNR.
The bridge’s partial collapse in 2003 rules out accessing the site
from the tracks on top of the structure.
“The last major construction was Brode and they used the tracks
and worked from that area to access the bridge,” Brady explained.
W.M. Brode Co. had been working since the beginning of 2003 to
restore the viaduct after significant structural damage had been
found.
When a tornado struck July 21, 2003, 11 towers out of 20 on the
viaduct collapsed. The failure of anchor bolts, original to the
1882 construction, was instrumental in the collapse.
The remaining towers still have the original anchor bolts
imbedded in the piers anchoring the towers, which prompted the DCNR
to close off the viaduct completely until restorations can be
completed.
Now, repair crews would have to access the site across lands
that are in private ownership.
“Ownership is not in DCNR hands, access is not guaranteed,”
Brady said. “We’re proceeding slowly.”
The project cannot be put out for bid until access is
guaranteed, he explained.
“If it did go out to bid this fall, it is indeed possible, with
ideal conditions, that there could be a spring start to
construction,” he said. “That has to be stressed that ideal
conditions would have to be reached.”
And if ideal conditions are reached, there may still be one more
holdup – water.
“We have to obtain a water source there and we’re not sure it’s
there. Water is never guaranteed,” Brady said, explaining their
doesn’t appear to be a water source available on site for the
interpretive center/museum planned for the park.
“There’s a lot of natural gas and not a lot of water,” he said –
but added there is not enough natural gas for that to be a
worthwhile source of revenue.
Brady said the water problem cannot be solved by running a pipe
to another water source along the access road to the park, as it
would not be financially feasible.
“They’re looking at a possible source from the Game Commission,”
Brady explained. There are state game lands near the park, and it
may be possible to solve the water problem by finding a source on
those lands.
“These are all entanglements and problems,” he said.
When all the problems are cleared up, the first renovation to be
addressed will be those original anchor bolts.
“The very first thing they’d tackle is the bases for what’s left
of the bridge,” Brady said. “It will be pretty much from the ground
up again. Stabilization of the remaining trestles is top
priority.”
Brady explained that funding for the project is not a problem,
as $7 million has been committed by Gov. Ed Rendell to the park’s
future.
“We’re ready to go,” Brady added.
