Oakmont retaining wall project along Allegheny River Boulevard could get more expensive

A retaining wall beautification project along Allegheny River Boulevard near the Oakmont and Verona border is underway.

Apollo-based Santamaria Landscaping crews are about two weeks into their three-month effort to restore the wall near the viaduct between the two boroughs.

Construction signs and traffic cones are used in the morning through late afternoon to help motorists navigate the site. Traffic restrictions are in place Monday through Friday.

Traffic headed into Verona passes between the rows of cones while traffic into Oakmont is reduced to one lane close to the sidewalk.

Oakmont officials budgeted about $180,000 for the project, including a $138,000 state Department of Community and Economic Development grant. It’s a matching grant with the borough covering about $41,000.

Jay Quade, senior inspector for Senate Engineer, told Oakmont officials Monday night that the project might prove to be more expensive than the company’s $121,000 bid.

He said bid specifications were based on September 2018 evaluations, and workers discovered more repairs were needed to the 20-foot concrete sections.

“We’ve had two years of freeze/thaw weather that has advanced the deterioration of the wall,” Quade said. “We are predicting that we’re going to be into the $170,000 range if we continue to repair everything that needs to be done. That’s an estimate based on the first four sections of the wall done. … It is a significant increase in square footage of repair necessary for that wall.”

Quade said he would have more concrete figures later this month. The wall is structurally sound, and the repairs are for aesthetics. It will be repainted once repairs are completed.

Council members said they want to keep all the work within budget, and might stop the project short if it ends up exceeding allocated monies.

The wall is on the southern entrance to the borough, across from Rite Aid, and is owned by Allegheny Valley Railroad. The company has declined to pay for any of the work.

BrightView Landscaping Services of Sewickley is handling the shrubbery and other vegetation by the wall.