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Times Leader P.M. Update: Sunday, Jan. 10

A new Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge over the Susquehanna River will be necessary to open up thousands of acres in Nanticoke and Newport Township for new industrial development, said state Sen. John Yudichak.
				&ldquo;We know that&rsquo;s going to be a tall order,&rdquo; he said of the estimated $35 million to $40 million funding required for the project. &ldquo;If we&rsquo;re going to bring in industry and attract more jobs, we&rsquo;re going to need a new bridge.&rdquo;
				He said it&rsquo;s the same business model followed in the South Valley Parkway roadway project, which cost $90 million and provided direct Interstate 81 access to tracts that now house distribution facilities for Chewy.com, Adidas, Patagonia Inc., True Value and others collectively employing more than 4,000.
				Privately funded construction along the South Valley Parkway is nearing a billion dollars, said Yudichak, I-Swoyersville.
				&ldquo;I&rsquo;d say that&rsquo;s a good return on the investment, and the next big infrastructure on the horizon to continue this great economic progress is the West Nanticoke Bridge,&rdquo; said Yudichak, who has started discussing the plan with officials at all government levels. &ldquo;It will get done.&rdquo;
				The estimated 5,000-acre swath he expects to attract thousands more jobs includes the 400-acre Whitney Point Industrial Park and also property owned by the nonprofit Earth Conservancy, he said. Some is abandoned coal mine land that must be reclaimed.
				While there has been &ldquo;very little activity&rdquo; in the industrial park, he expects that to change now that other land closer to I-81 has been developed.
				As possible proof of the site&rsquo;s potential, Yudichak said he is &ldquo;encouraged&rdquo; that a few companies are evaluating the Newport/Nanticoke land for possible projects.
				These companies have all indicated an upgraded bridge is &ldquo;very important&rdquo; as an access point for increased truck traffic, he said, declining to identify the interested companies due to non-disclosure agreements.
				He described the site as the last large-scale industrial development area remaining on &ldquo;the floor of the Wyoming Valley&rdquo; with rail access.
				Approximately $1 million was secured several years ago to bring rail access to the Whitney Point park, he said. A railroad spur was added off the Norfolk Southern main line that runs through Newport Township and Nanticoke, he said.
				Last month, Gov. Tom Wolf awarded a $1.5 million state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant for infrastructure upgrades and reclamation work at Whitney Point to help attract new industry, Yudichak said.
				He credited Wolf for fulfilling a commitment to invest in rebuilding of the Newport Township area following the state&rsquo;s closing of the State Correctional Institution at Retreat last June, which had 400 workers and was the township&rsquo;s largest employer.
				A portion of the newly state-awarded $1.5 million may be used to expand rail at the industrial park along a former coal rail bed that still exists, Yudichak said. The spur is operational but does not fully extend into the park, he said.
				&ldquo;The strength of the site is rail service,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a very attractive feature for such a large tract of land that also is very close to Interstate 81.&rdquo;
				Buying time
				As Yudichak works with others to seek funding for a new bridge, the existing county-owned span needs work.
				Based on various issues found in an inspection, the bridge was downgraded to a 15-ton weight limit in May by the county and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
				County Engineer Lawrence Plesh has stressed the bridge meets safety requirements, but he cautioned additional weight limits may be necessary at some point if rehabilitation work is not completed.
				The problem: the lowest cost for this rehabilitation is $2.67 million based on bids submitted by four companies in October.
				Without an additional funding source, Plesh said the county won&rsquo;t have enough money saved to complete this work for a year or two. And spending all that saved-up money on one span would prevent the county from addressing work needed on others in the county&rsquo;s inventory of 300 bridges, he said.
				The weight limit on the Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge was partially necessary because bridge components known as bearings are not fully &ldquo;moving with the bridge&rdquo; to help it expand and contract as vehicles cross, which puts more stress on other components, Plesh said.
				In addition, some of the pins that secure eye bars no longer meet the original design capacity due to rust and other conditions, he said. These pins must withstand force and cannot reach the stage where they snap, he said.
				The rehabilitation would fix strip seals on top of the bearings and replace some of the worn pins, he said.
				The problems with the 2,072-foot bridge, which links Nanticoke and Plymouth Township, were discovered during a state grant-funded study of the structure to identify needed rehabilitation work, he said.
				Yudichak said he is working with the state transportation department and county officials on funding options and a plan to keep the bridge safe and operational as a replacement bridge is pursued.
				The low bidder for the rehabilitation project has agreed to hold its bid until March, Plesh said.
				Plesh said this project will only repair the bridge so it can remain at a 15-ton limit.
				&ldquo;It&rsquo;s slowly deteriorating, and every season takes a little out of it,&rdquo; Plesh said. &ldquo;If we do absolutely nothing, the bridge will eventually be closed. If we do the rehab, maybe it can stay at 15 tons for 10 years instead of four or five.&rdquo;
				County Manager C. David Pedri said he is actively working to develop the best plan focusing on public safety and cost and emphasized county council must be involved.
				&ldquo;If there&rsquo;s a way we can partner with the state to fix and keep the current bridge open and support new future growth, we&rsquo;re interested in discussing it,&rdquo; Pedri said.

New Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge needed to unlock development, legislator says