One year later, still cleaning up after Irene and Lee
A year after a Hurricane Irene ravaged the East Coast, followed by Tropical Storm Lee, the Philadelphia area is still not completely done with the clean up.
PennDOT spokesman Gene Blaum said of 14 locations throughout the region that needed significant repairs following the two storms, two areas remain under construction.”They’re both bridges – one of them is a bridge on Wagontown Road in West Caln Township [in Chester County] and the second house is on Burnt House Hill Road in Buckingham Township of Bucks County,” said Blaum.So why a year later are the construction projects still not complete?
Blaum explained, “Wagontown Road is a complete bridge replacement, the Burnt Road Hill is about 90 percent of the old bridge is being replaced. The Burnt House Hill Road was an old stone arch bridge and stone arch bridges can be time consuming once you get into the design and the barrels of the arch quite often the damage is more extensive that what you were anticipating. And actually that happened here.”Blaum said PennDOT expects both bridge projects will be done in the next two months. In total, it cost PennDOT $3.6 million to repair damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee in Philadelphia’s five county region.
WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.