Category: News || By Jason Togyer

At right, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers welder Jim Connelly and maintenance worker Lee Barnhart remove concrete around one of the turnbuckles at the Braddock Locks and Dam.

The Corps temporarily closed the main lock chamber at the Braddock dam on May 30 after inspection crews discovered a crack in part of a hinge on the main gate.

A smaller lock remained open while repairs were made. The work was completed last Sunday.

Located 11 miles south of Pittsburgh, the Braddock Locks and Dam ensures year-round commercial shipping on the Monongahela River by maintaining the pool through McKeesport down to the locks and dam at Elizabeth.

The Braddock facility was constructed from 1902-06 and reconstructed in the 1950s. More than 6,200 boats, including 3,800 coal tugs and other commercial boats, pass through the lock each year. A replacement dam is currently being constructed.

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Midtown Tunnel Coming Down: The final remnants of the Midtown Plaza tunnel over Fifth Avenue will be demolished this week.

City Public Works Director Nick Shermenti said Fifth Avenue between Locust and Sinclair streets will be closed until at least Friday --- and possibly until next week --- while several concrete arches are torn down.

The arches once supported a parking deck that crossed Fifth Avenue. Each arch will be cut into five pieces and lowered to the ground, Shermenti said.

The sections each weigh an average of 100 tons, he said.

Removal of the arches will enable the city to begin the long-awaited reconstruction of Fifth Avenue, which will include restoring Downtown's main commercial street to two-way traffic.

In an unrelated story, Shermenti told city council that a contractor this week will start replacing the roof on the former municipal building at 201 Lysle Blvd.

Though the city's administrative offices have moved to the old McKeesport National Bank at Fifth and Sinclair, the 201 Lysle building is still used by the police and fire departments.

City officials say that several organizations have expressed an interest in renting space at 201 Lysle, including the Twin Rivers Council of Governments and the Regional Chamber Alliance, but the poor condition of the roof has been a roadblock to leasing the structure.

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News From Penn State: Two honor students at Penn State's campus in the city --- Erick Froede Jr., an engineering major from Budd Lake, N.J., and Anthony Palocaren Sr., an engineering major from West Mifflin --- are trying to determine how much energy is being lost through the windows of one of the classroom buildings.

Using a thermal camera, the students and engineering instructor Eric Lipsky are measuring heat loss at the Frable Building.

The students hope to provide the university with a cost-benefit analysis of replacing the windows versus continuing to pay the existing heating and cooling bills.

Details are available at Penn State's website.

In other news, the G.C. Murphy Co. Foundation has donated an additional $50,000 to a scholarship fund at the McKeesport-based Greater Allegheny Campus.

The scholarship assists Penn State students who are the descendants of G.C. Murphy Co. employees or who live in communities where the retailer once had stores.

"Thanks to this generous grant, the number of scholarship awards will increase in future," said Pat Quinn Winter, director of development, in a prepared statement. "We're very grateful to the foundation for recognizing the needs of our students."

Finally: Penn State will hold "Kids' College" on the McKeesport campus from July 7 through 18 for local pupils in grades four through eight.

The one-week camps offer activities in areas like robotics, cooking, criminal justice, math, photography and music.

For more information, call (412) 675-9040 or download the brochure (PDF) from the campus' website.