Pier raising planned in Elizabeth

The project was made necessary due to a rise in the river level after a 2024 lock and dam demolition.

Elizabeth Council approved a bid Tuesday night for a pier-raising project in response to changes in the Monongahela River water level caused by the demolition of the Elizabeth Lock and Dam in July 2024.

Removing the dam raised the river’s level by approximately 2 feet for communities between Elizabeth and Braddock, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which worked on the project. The river water elevation was predicted drop by approximately 3.2 feet between Elizabeth and the dam in Charleroi following the removal of the lock and dam.

Raising the existing fishing pier/barge has been in discussions between the borough and the Army Corps of Engineers for the past couple of years, according to borough manager Scott Craighead.

“The locks raised the water level, so they are raising the pier up, and they are putting in all new roads down into there, so it will be all brand new down there,” Craighead said. “We are in charge of the bids and stuff.”

This also ties in with the borough’s riverwalk project, which is a walkway along the river. The raising of the barge is included since the walkway goes from the barge down to Walker Road.

That project includes a 6-foot-wide ADA-compliant walking trail next to the Monongahela River. Officials hope it will bring more people, boat traffic and business to the borough.

The pier will be raised 5 feet and the access road to it will be replaced in the project, which is being funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Council approved advertising for bids for the barge in May and accepted the lowest bid from Paliotta Construction at $1,570,171.14 Tuesday night.

Craighead said the actual raising of the pier should start in September following several problems with getting the materials that they needed.

“It’s very hard to prioritize some (grants) and give up others,” Craighead said. “Certainly the river project is our main one I think.”

The borough was approved for a $252,503 multi-modal grant a couple months for the restoration of the steps at the end of Third Avenue.

This grant will also fund some sidewalks in town, and the goal is to increase the walkability to the business district from surrounding neighborhoods.

Elizabeth was approved for another multimodal for the paving of sidewalks from Market Street to McKeesport Road in the amount of $554,598.52.

“Essentially, it’s the Third Avenue that we own,” Craighead said. “We’re looking to combine that with some money that may have become available through a law recently where there is some money available to improve some state improved properties, so we’re working with the legislators to see if they are going to combine that property with taking it all the way down to Center Avenue.”

Other grants received include Main Street Matters funding for the Third Street sidewalks for $100,000, a grant for Water Street to be paved for $50,000-$60,000, and the borough is using Liquid Fuels funding for a salt shed.

Council President Tim Guffey complimented Craighead’s work in obtaining all the grants.

“A lot of all these grants that we are talking about, if we didn’t have the borough manager, I think we would be basically not getting these grants, and we wouldn’t see the progress we are seeing in this borough,” Guffey said. “A lot of this stuff is getting done free of charge per se based on the fact that we are getting grant money for it, and I owe a lot to the oversight that Scott’s doing because otherwise, I don’t think any of us around this table would have the time to still be overseeing any of that.”

In other business:

• The borough approved advertising for bids for the old waterworks building, and accepted a $113,062.50 bid from El Grande Industries for Birch Alley reconstruction.

• The codification of the borough’s ordinances may be voted on at next month’s meeting, and the borough is in discussions with the school district about future options for the Elizabeth Elementary Center and Wiley Field.

• A back-to-school festival will be held Aug. 10, with backpacks being given out to kids.