web1_TTL080317enviro3.jpg

Students study Susquehanna during Wilkes environmental camp

web1_traffic-road-closed-3.jpg

Block of Division Street in Wilkes-Barre to close for church bazaar

<p>If the weather cooperates, the Coxton Railroad Bridge should be down before year&#8217;s end and no longer posing a hazard to blocking the Susquehanna River.</p><p>The Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority accepted $1 million in state funds for the demolition. It&#8217;s partnering with the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority and has awarded an engineering contract for the project.</p><p>&#8220;The engineers are doing their due diligence. We expect it to be out to bid any day,&#8221; said Andy Reilly, executive director of the Redevelopment Authority.</p><p>&#8220;The goal is to try and get it done this year,&#8221; Reilly said Wednesday. If it&#8217;s not feasible, the project will be put off until next year.</p><p>It all depends upon the weather, Reilly said, and if the river stays at a level that allows crews and heavy equipment access to the span that&#8217;s no longer in use and hasn&#8217;t had a train traverse it in years.</p><p>The stone piers supporting the bridge between Duryea and Exeter have deteriorated and could be further damaged by a high-water event like the Sept. 8, 2011, record level of 42 feet 7 inches measured in Wilkes-Barre after the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee drenched Northeastern Pennsylvania.</p><p>The river level downstream in Wilkes-Barre was just under 2&#189; feet Wednesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. Flood stage is 22 feet for unprotected lowland areas. The Wyoming Valley Levee System is designed to provide maximum protection up to 41 feet in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>The bridge returned to the control of the Redevelopment Authority earlier this year. It sold the structure to LAG Wrecking for $500 in 2007 with the understanding the Duryea-based company affiliated with Leo A. Glodzik III would demolish it and sell the steel for scrap. Glodzik pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud and filing a false tax return and has been serving a 30-month federal prison sentence since December 2016.</p><p>Nothing was done to the bridge and the state Department of Environmental Protection took LAG Wrecking to court to compel it to comply with an order to correct violations found during a 2014 inspection. DEP gave LAG Wrecking the options of either removing the bridge so it doesn&#8217;t collapse and block the river or repairing it to make it structurally sound.</p><p>LAG Wrecking did not have the money to comply and its president, Pilar Glodzik, agreed to turn over ownership of the bridge to the Redevelopment Authority.</p><p>The authority in June awarded Borton-Lawson engineers and architects of Plains Township a $64,200 engineering contract for the demolition. The $1 million in state funds are leftover from the grant program established after Tropical Storm Lee and Hurricane Irene in 2011.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL082615bridge.jom_.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The plan outlined by the Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority is to demolish the Coxton Railroad Bridge over the Susquehanna River between Duryea and Exeter this year if weather permits. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL082615bridge.jom_.jpg</photo0><caption0>The plan outlined by the Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority is to demolish the Coxton Railroad Bridge over the Susquehanna River between Duryea and Exeter this year if weather permits. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Coxton Bridge demo to go out to bid soon; plan is to remove it this year