House Floating Along Rivers Will Be New South Side Marina Office

Pittsburgh Tribune Review
23 April 2015
By Tony Raap
 
Pedestrians and office workers with a riverfront view watched in bewilderment Thursday as a house floated down the Allegheny River and up the Monongahela River.
A river crew delivered the two-story house to a large marina under construction near South Shore Riverfront Park in SouthSide Works.

The unusual cargo will serve as an office building at the South Side Marina, which is scheduled to open this spring.

It was easier to go by river than truck, said Mabon Lichtenfels, project manager for Max Construction Co., which is building the nearly $5 million marina.

A small towboat toted the house from the Fox Chapel Yacht Club to the new marina on a floating platform. The voyage took about two hours, and the arrival was greeted by a pack of news cameras.

“I didn't know it was going to create a stir,” Lichtenfels said. “I was more concerned about getting it down there safely.”

The house will rest on a platform that goes up and down with the level of the river, he said.

The crew didn't need a permit to haul the house downstream because it wasn't carrying dangerous cargo or hazardous materials, U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Lindsay Weaver said.

The marina will be built in phases. It eventually will have 321 slips, Lichtenfels said.

The marina's owner, David Maxwell, could not be reached for comment.

Tony Raap is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7827 or traap@tribweb.com.
 
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