Luzerne County Council faces decision on Duryea bridge

Final plans for the proposed Duryea levee-raising project hinge on whether Luzerne County Council wants to fix or demolish the county-owned Stephenson Street Bridge, a consultant said during this week’s work session.

To increase the height of a levee closure structure on the bridge, the support abutment under the bridge must be repaired because it is in “really bad shape,” said Jim Moore, of Greenman-Pedersen Inc. (GPI), which is handling the design.

“We’re not able to as engineers recommend that we build more on top of that,” Moore told council.

The other solution would be tearing down some or all of the span so that section can be part of the earthen levee wall, he said.

The bridge is no longer accessible to general public vehicles because one side is blocked with a gate. Moore said the only bridge traffic he observed involved dump trucks accessing private land on the non-levee side of the river, with the truck drivers using a key to unlock the gate.

Moore showed photographs of abutment erosion, noting there is “very little left of the back wall of that abutment.” Approximately 75% of the abutment is spalled or delaminated, he said.

The closure structure sits 20 feet above the abutment, he said.

“It depends on the integrity of this abutment for its survival,” he said.

His presentation said bridge inspections in 2022 and 2023 also indicated the bridge superstructure and piers are in poor condition, prompting a weight limit reduction from 33 to 22 tons.

Some details about the two options presented to council:

• Remove at least the first span of the bridge so that section can become part of the levee, with no closure structure needed.

This option, which is the one recommended, would cost approximately $525,000 — $350,000 for the added section of levee and $175,000 to demolish the first bridge span, he said.

• Repair the bridge abutment so both the current and planned closure structures are not in danger of failing.

This would be more expensive — a total $1 million — because the estimates are $500,000 for abutment repairs and $500,000 for closure modifications, he said.

While the borough must seek funds to pay for the levee-raising, the county would be responsible for the portion of bridge-related work tied to abutment repairs or demolition, officials said. The demolition cost would rise to an estimated $750,000 if the entire span is torn down.

County Council Chairman John Lombardo said further discussion is needed for council to reach a decision.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo said inquiries also must be made to determine if outside funding assistance would be available to the county. She plans to meet again with borough officials next month.

Councilwoman Patty Krushnowski said flood prevention is her primary concern and asked how many properties are impacted.

Moore said the levee must protect 1,221 residents, 597 commercial properties, 6.7 miles of roadway and two critical facilities — the borough building and Holy Rosary School.

“If that closure structure failed, it would be catastrophic,” he said.

Council Vice Chairman Brian Thornton said some believe the abutment issues are the only problem, but the inspections make it clear the bridge itself is in poor condition.

Still, there are suggestions from within Duryea to salvage the span.

Borough Emergency Management Director Keith Moss, a former Duryea mayor, said the borough has purchased land on the non-levee side of the bridge for a future trail. Another borough official said the borough intended to use the Stephenson Street Bridge for pedestrians to access the trail.

Duryea had received state and federal mitigation funding through Luzerne County’s Flood Protection Authority to study work needed to bring its levee up to federal standards. Additional federal and state funds must be pursued to pay for the actual levee upgrades, officials have said.

Primarily along the Lackawanna River, Duryea qualifies for the mitigation funding because the raised Wyoming Valley Levee creates upstream backwater when it floods, preventing the Lackawanna from draining into the Susquehanna where the two rivers meet in Duryea, officials have said.

Duryea had worked with the state to close a two-block gap in its one-mile levee after 139 borough properties were flooded in 2011, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency has decided it won’t certify the older remaining levee for flood insurance purposes because it has deficiencies, including a freeboard buffer on top deemed insufficient based on the latest flood threat modeling, officials have said.

The 268-foot Stephenson Street Bridge was constructed around 1959 to replace a crossing demolished during Hurricane Diane in 1955, according to county records and prior-published reports.