Repairs begin on crumbling section of Westmoreland courthouse parking garage

Emergency work to repair crumbling ceiling concrete above the upper parking level of the Westmoreland County Courthouse started this week.

County commissioners are expected to approve a nearly $70,000 contract later this week to pay for the construction work to install and fortify support beams needed to fix damage in the underground parking section of the building.

Public Works Director Greg McCloskey said small chunks of concrete have crashed down into the area over the last year, a result of water and salt that leaked into the structure from the front courtyard.

Nine parking spots in the garage were relocated.

“We started sealing the courtyard last year but didn’t finish the work until this spring,” McCloskey said.

With that phase completed, work on the underground structure should prevent more decay of the ceiling concrete. Maccabee Industrial Inc. of Belle Vernon was hired to make the emergency repairs.

The work is expected to take about two weeks to complete.

McCloskey said a section of the courtyard above the work will remain cordoned off until the work is done.

“We didn’t want people over the work to feel the drilling. They’d think it was a California earthquake,” McCloskey said.