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WINSLOW

Work to begin later this year on Winslow's Mile Brook Bridge

Seven years of waiting finally to end

By Scott Monroe smonroe@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

WINSLOW -- Seven years of waiting is expected to end later this year when work starts on replacing the Mile Brook Bridge on Garland Road.

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VIEW FROM BELOW: Replacement of the the Mile Brook Bridge in Winslow will begin later this year.

Staff photo by David Leaming

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But the major project's arrival will come at a higher cost -- about $6 million -- and take longer than originally planned. A state official says that's in part because of erosion caused by the summer 2008 removal of the Fort Halifax Dam on the Sebasticook River.

Town Manager Michael Heavener said town officials are relieved that the project is moving forward after years of stagnation, dating back to 2003.

"It is an important project," Heavener said. "The bridge is in desperate need of repair and we're happy the Department of Transportation is finally going to address the concerns we've had about the condition of it."

Heavener noted that the bridge project isn't going to directly cost the town; federal funding will cover 80 percent of the cost and the state will kick in the balance, Heavener said.

According to town records, the Mile Brook Bridge was built in 1947 and handles an estimated 2,500 vehicles a day. Plans call for the bridge to be rebuilt to handle about 3,500 vehicles a day.

During construction, cars driving on Garland Road will be rerouted to North Reynolds Road, which connects with Route 137.

State transportation officials expect to request building proposals this coming June and award the job to a firm by the fall, according to Nate Benoit, project manager for the state Department of Transportation's bridge program. Under that timetable, preliminary work could start later this year, major construction would start in spring 2011 and a new bridge should be up by that fall.

"It's been deferred and deferred; it hasn't competed well for priority for construction funding," Benoit said. "We had one plan a while back to do a superstructure replacement, but when they took the dam out we had one pier ... become susceptible to erosion."

Thus, instead of just replacing the bridge's steel beams and main deck, workers will also replace the large piers holding the bridge up, Benoit said. Removing the existing bridge and building a new one will take about a year more than originally planned, for a total construction timetable of 18 months or so.

In 2003, the estimated cost for a superstructure replacement was $3.4 million and a complete bridge replacement was estimated at $4.2 million. Now, the estimated price tag is $6 million to $6.5 million, depending on the bridge's design.

That section of Garland Road will be closed during construction as the old bridge is removed and a new one put in place, he said.

Is the current bridge a danger?

"We are monitoring that one pier; we have some concern with it," Benoit said. "If we get a significant storm event we have a bridge inspector check it out to make sure there hasn't been furthering erosion near that pier. It's a project we're keeping close attention to and we do have some concern, which is why we inspect it regularly."

Scott Monroe -- 861-9253

smonroe@centralmaine.com