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WILKES-BARRE — Emergency repairs to a section of the stone wall that collapsed into Solomon Creek will begin next week, Mayor Tony George said.

The contractor, Pioneer Construction of Honesdale, is scheduled to start on Tuesday. The work is expected to last approximately a week. During that time Brook Street between Barney and Waller streets will be closed.

“This is a temporary remedy that will secure the site until the design and permit process, for the permanent restoration of the two creek walls, is completed. We anticipate the wall completion by year end,” George said in a press release Friday.

The cost will not exceed $19,000 and the work will be limited to the section of the wall that fell into the creek bed on Dec. 9, Joyce Morrash Zaykowski, capital projects manager, said.

The city hopes to be reimbursed for the work from the $125,000 the state committed for the repairs, Morrash Zaykowski said. The remaining funds are expected to be put toward future work on the flood control project, she said.

“We have a solid, viable fix until we can implement the final long-term goal.” Zaykowski said.

The city had planned to repair the wall that was in bad shape before the collapse and bid out the work. Pioneer was the lowest of 11 bidders, submitting a quote of $164,250. The contract had not been signed by the time of the collapse.

The emergency repairs are less extensive than the scope of work outlined in the project that was bid. That dealt with the walls between the bridges on Regent, Barney and Waller streets.

The mayor and his administration are asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to review its determination it’s not cost effective to do a comprehensive flood control project along the creek from Wilkes-Barre Township to Hanover Township.

Emergency repairs will begin next week on a section of the stone wall that collapsed into Solomon Creek in Wilkes-Barre on Dec. 9.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_TTL121116SolomonCreek1CMYK-1.jpg.optimal.jpgEmergency repairs will begin next week on a section of the stone wall that collapsed into Solomon Creek in Wilkes-Barre on Dec. 9.

By Jerry Lynott

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Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott