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Local Scouts honor ‘Distinguished Citizens’ at annual dinner

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Work began Thursday to replace a cracked wall that&#8217;s caused a flood gate to get hung up on the concrete deck of the Waller Street bridge over Solomon Creek.</p><p>The work forced the closing of the bridge for two weeks and was necessary for the creek wall reconstruction project to proceed, said Joyce Morrash Zaykowski, the city&#8217;s Capital Projects Program Manager and director of the Office of Community and Economic Development.</p><p>Zaykowski said that if the bridge gate was not retrofitted, it would have affected the new channel wall under construction. The city secured $500,000 in state funds for retrofitting the floodgates on the four bridges over the creek. Additionally, it has more than $4.7 million in state and federal funds available for the creek wall reconstruction.</p><p>Workers from Don E. Bower, the Berwick contractor hired for the wall project, focused on a section of the bridge across from 84 Brook St. They removed the gate and placed it on the deck. An excavator with a hydraulic hammer demolished a portion of the reinforced concrete support wall.</p><p>The bridge, one of four built at a cost of $2.3 million in city, state and federal funds, opened in 2006 to protect South Wilkes-Barre neighborhoods from flooding. Bridges with an identical design were also built on Barney, Regent and South Franklin streets. The overall cost was more than $11 million.</p><p>Wilkes-Barre Fire Department Chief Jay Delaney said the support pillar for one of the four swinging gates developed a crack approximately 1&#189; inches wide due the moving of the earth underneath it. Firefighters who are called out when the creek rises need the assistance of a front-end loader to move the gate into place, and once in place, it did not sit properly, Delaney explained.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re designed to be moved by human beings, not heavy equipment,&#8221; Delaney said.</p><p>The gates on the three other bridges also have problems closing, but their repairs were not as urgent as Waller Street</p><p>&#8220;That was the worst. That was critical,&#8221; said the chief.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Waller-Street-bridge-crack-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A crack in the reinforced concrete wall prevents one of the floodgates from swinging freely into place on the Waller Street bridge in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Waller-Street-bridge-crack-1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>A crack in the reinforced concrete wall prevents one of the floodgates from swinging freely into place on the Waller Street bridge in Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Courtesy of Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Waller-St-Bridge-loader-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre firefighters need the assistance of a front-end loader from the Department of Public Works to move one of the floodgates into place on the Waller Street bridge over Solomon Creek. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Waller-St-Bridge-loader-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wilkes-Barre firefighters need the assistance of a front-end loader from the Department of Public Works to move one of the floodgates into place on the Waller Street bridge over Solomon Creek. </caption1><photoCredit1>Courtesy of Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Waller-Street-bridge-crack-2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Here&#8217;s a close-up view of the crack in the reinforced concrete wall supporting one of the floodgates on the Waller Street bridge over Solomon Creek in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Waller-Street-bridge-crack-2-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Here&#8217;s a close-up view of the crack in the reinforced concrete wall supporting one of the floodgates on the Waller Street bridge over Solomon Creek in Wilkes-Barre. </caption2><photoCredit2>Courtesy of Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Waller-Street-overall.cmyk_-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Work is underway to retrofit one of the floodgates on the Waller Street bridge in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Waller-Street-overall.cmyk_-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Work is underway to retrofit one of the floodgates on the Waller Street bridge in Wilkes-Barre. </caption3><photoCredit3>Jerry Lynott | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Waller-St.-Bridge-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Construction began Thursday on retrofitting a flood gate on the Waller Street bridge over Solomon Creek in Wilkes-Barre. The work will close the bridge for several weeks. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Waller-St.-Bridge-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Construction began Thursday on retrofitting a flood gate on the Waller Street bridge over Solomon Creek in Wilkes-Barre. The work will close the bridge for several weeks. </caption4><photoCredit4>Jerry Lynott | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Bridge will be closed to traffic for two weeks</subheadMeta></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>

Work underway to retrofit flood gate on Waller Street bridge in Wilkes-Barre