County backs experimental bridge work

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The Lycoming County Commissioners on Thursday approved an agreement with the state Department of Transportation that will allow a unique bridge renovation project to move forward.

The agreement will provide the county with $407,000 to install an experimental fiberglass deck on a bridge spanning English Run near English Center.

The bridge provides the only access to the Fisher Mining Co., according to county transportation planner Mark Murawski.

If the deck is not replaced soon, weight limits will have to be imposed, Murawski said.

"That will be a problem for the coal trucks using it," he said.

The agreement provides state-administered federal bridge demonstration funds and county liquid fuels funds for the project.

A caveat of receiving the federal funding is that it has to be used to pay for a fiberglass deck, Murawski said. Using fiberglass will allow the project to be completed quickly compared to conventional materials such as concrete, he said.

Using concrete would shut the bridge down for at least two months, Murawski said. The fiberglass deck will take about nine days to install, he said.

"We can't have the mining company shut down for a long period of time," he said.

Fiberglass decks have been used successfully in New York and Altoona, he said.

Work should begin on the deck in October, Murawski said. Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. of Montoursville has been contracted to install the deck, he said.

In other business, the commissioners heard a presentation by Lycoming County Library System officials regarding the benefits of owning a library card.

The county system includes six public libraries as well as links in Ralston, Unityville, Barbours and Cogan House Township, according to Janice Trapp, James V. Brown Library and county library system director.

There also is a place where library patrons can go for information without leaving their homes, Trapp said. That is the library system's online library, Trapp said.

"It is one of the biggest library outreaches we operate but you can't see it because it's on the Internet," she said.

According to Trapp, library card owners can download audio books and replay them on their MP3 players. They can access online tutors to help them with their homework. They can use the online library to research Kohl's department stores or read the Dallas-Fort Worth Business News to see how natural gas exploration impacts Texas communities.

"You can use the e-branch to be an informed resident of Lycoming County," she said.

Trapp said it is fitting that September is both National Voter Registration Month and Library Card Sign-up Month.

"There is a correlation between people registered to vote and people with library cards," she said.

"We want every person (in the county) to have a library card," she said. "There is no good reason for anyone to not have a library card. A free public library card offers the best value in the community."

According to library assistant director Jeffrey Swope, the library system last year was the third busiest in the state as far as per capita use.

The system loaned patrons more than 1 million items with an estimated value of more than $16.5 million, Swope said.