Montour Trail-Letter

Volume 10, Issue 6

November/December, 1999

A crew of volunteers has started construction work on a Montour Trail segment within Jefferson and Clairton. The segment will eventually connect Route 51 near the Dick Corporation in Large, PA to Route 837 in Clairton near the wastewater treatment plant. The land was purchased by the Montour Trail Council only a couple of years ago, and was formerly the Peters Creek Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Because of the flooding that occurs in this thickly wooded area, the trail right-of-way will be slightly offset in some locations from the previous railroad centerline to place it on higher ground. The work that the volunteers are doing is primarily associated with clearing a 15 foot wide strip of land in preparation for construction equipment. The volunteers are using chain saws, bow saws, and a tractor mounted brush-hog. This work has added difficulty in comparison to previously built trail segments because the land is not entirely level and the trees which must be cut down have really grown since the railroad went out of business over 20 years ago.

After clearing work is completed by volunteers, City of Clairton workers will be moving in with construction equipment to install drainage culverts and establish a rough grade for the trails. Volunteers will then return and build concrete forms for building box culvert bridges in two or three areas where water flow crossing the right-of-way is too large for pipe culverts. Construction equipment will then return, this time from Jefferson Borough, to install the trail surface.

If you would like to participate in this effort, or would like further information, please call Paul McKeown at (412) 835-6692 or John Hooten at (724) 942-0115.