Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Repairs underway at Milton Library to replace cracked bulkhead

Milton Library
Emergency repairs are underway at the Milton Library.

The Milton Library is undergoing emergency repairs.  

 

Tidal action from the Broadkill River in Sussex County is forcing the urgent fixes.

Hans Medlarz is Sussex County’s engineer. He says, "We had added a piece to the library building approximately 8-9 years ago, single story, along the Broadkill River. And more recently, within the last 12 months, we noticed there was a cracking in the wall and the floors adjacent to the Broadkill.”

Besides the cracking in the wall and floors, Medlarz says another problem was found.

“Upon further investigation we realized that a void had developed underneath the building.”

Medlarz says the repair project to replace an 80-foot-long bulkhead is being done from floating barges at a cost of $370,000.

He says the work should be done by the end of this month.

The Milton Library is staying open during the repairs.

 

“The library is open and fully functional...our regular hours during all of this," said Sussex County Librarian Kathy Graybeal, "To date, we have been prepared for an awful lot of noise with pile driving, but it hasn’t been too bad. And I’m happy to say that the team they have working on it is really cognizant of the fact that this is public space.”

 
 

Kelli Steele has over 30 years of experience covering news in Delaware, Baltimore, Winchester, Virginia, Phoenix, Arizona and San Diego, California.