Greater Philadelphia Bicycle News

Ivan's damage could take two years to undo

Ivan's damage could take two years to undo
Delaware Canal bed needs dredging, and towpath and wall need fixing.
Sunday, January 30, 2005
By EDWARD SIEGER
The Express-Times

It's going to cost the state millions of dollars and take as long as two years to rebuild portions of the Delaware Canal State Park ravaged by the remnants of Hurricane Ivan.

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in late 1988 began resurfacing the canal towpath from Easton to Bristol, Bucks County, department spokesman Terry Brady said. The work -- completed in spring 2004 -- was done in five sections at a cost of almost $4 million, he said.

"It's all pretty much gone now," Brady said.

Cleanup and restoration of the canal and towpath through Northampton and Bucks counties carries an estimated $9.2 million price tag, according to Eugene J. Comoss, director of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' bureau of facility, design and construction. Repairing and rebuilding the roughly 15-mile stretch from Easton to the county line alone will cost about $5 million, he said.

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