At its February meeting Wednesday, the Greater Pottsville Area Sewer Authority provided an update on progress it made in repairing a section of the 19th century stone arch that crumbled recently and put a hole in the street.
“I want to update the board on the stone arch collapse at Fifth and Arch streets. The collapsed area is about 60-feet long. Actually, it’s a little less than 60 feet,” Timothy R. Yingling, the sewer authority’s executive director, said at the meeting at its offices at City Hall.
Vincent D. Riotto, GPASA street crew supervisor, ordered the pipe, three 20-foot sections of PVC plastic pipe, which is 48-inches in diameter, Yingling said.
“They ordered it from LB Water Service, Ephrata. We received it today. In the meantime, they secured the area, since we got the report last week that it had collapsed. We did a partial dig out to get it cleaned up and ready to go. They should start tomorrow or the next day. It all depends on the flow,” Yingling said.
The arch that collapsed is a combined stormwater and sewer system, and Wednesday night’s storm may delay the repairs, he said.
“It might be flowing a full pipe for a day or so. So we might have to wait until Friday to start. It all depends on the weather,” Yingling said.
GPASA’s street crew is working on the project and Dallago’s Backhoe Service, Minersville, is helping with the excavation work, Yingling said.
“So, it should be completed by next Wednesday?” Ian H. Lipton, GPASA chairman, asked.
“I would hope, if nothing goes wrong. You never know until they get in there and start digging. They have to remove a portion of that arch in the bottom then put plastic pipe into it,” Yingling said.
“How old was that arch? What’s the estimated age on that, Tim?” board member John D.W. Reiley asked.
“They say it’s over 100 years old, which I’m sure it is. I’m pretty sure they said it was built in the 1800s,” Yingling said.
“That comes all the way down from Charles Baber Cemetery,” Reiley said.
“Yes it does,” Yingling said.
“That’s a lot of water, isn’t it?” board member Robert J. Quinn Jr. asked.
“Yes it is,” Yingling said.
“So, we can expect that the stone arch will keep collapsing in spots over the years,” board member Beth Ann Shields said.
“Oh, yeah,” board Member J. Donald Kerns said.
“It has happened in the past and it could be expected for as old as it is. When I got here in the early ’80s, they actually gunited that section,” Yingling said.
Gunite is a mixture of cement, sand and water which is applied with a pressure hose to produce a hard layer of concrete, according to www.merriam-webster.com.
“Workers went in there and sprayed a concrete mix on the inside walls to help knit that together. You can see where it was gunited, but it still broke,” Yingling said.
“What size pipe? Forty-eight inch?” Quinn asked.
“It’s an odd shape, but it’s around a 48-inch diameter,” Yingling said.
Quinn estimated the job would cost “about $60,000 or $70,000.”
But Yingling said he wasn’t sure what the total cost of the repair work would turn out to be. “I’ll tell you when it’s done,” he said.
Quinn recommended the authority consider a long-term strategy regarding the miles of ancient stone arch that makes up its system.
“How many feet do we have left of these tunnels?” Quinn asked.
“I know what you’re getting at, Bob. But, like I said, that area that collapsed was gunited. And it lasted, like, 20 years, and it still broke,” Yingling said.
“In the future we might have to look into lining those pipes before they cave in, maybe with a slip form,” Quinn said.
“For smaller pipe diameters, you’ll lose the inside diameter when you do that. There are advantages and disadvantages with whatever you do. And it’s all about money,” Thomas W. Schreffler, a project manager with Light-Heigel & Associates Inc., said.
“But, as Tim said, as far as that stone arch tunnel goes, in my former days I actually traversed the stone tunnel from Second and Progress Avenue all the way up to the library. I’ll never forget it. I was with Vince Riotto. And whoever built that stone tunnel, the workmanship was excellent because none of it was grouted. It was all held in place just by the friction of the stone, one-on-one. And it doesn’t surprise me at all that you have these collapses because it just erodes away,” Schreffler said.
“How far have we done up Mahantongo Street. Up past the brewery?” Quinn asked.
“Yes. During that project, we replaced it from Second Street up to 16th Street. We eliminated the stone arch on Mahantongo Street. And that’s really the way to do it instead of repairing it,” Yingling said.
“It’s expensive,” Quinn said.
