Bridge alternatives pursued
This month, Department of Transportation commissioners from New Hampshire and Maine agreed to pursue alternative engineering plans to rebuilding two bridges spanning the Piscataqua River between Portsmouth and Kittery. The New Hampshire DOT will now seek Gov. John Lynch’s approval for a $2 million corridor study to examine alternatives to rebuilding the Memorial and Sarah Mildred Long bridges.
The bridges are key commuter connections for thousands of Mainers who work at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, according to Kat Fuller, director of planning with the Maine DOT. A 2007 economic impact study of the shipyard showed 2,801 Mainers employed at the yard, more than half of the yard’s 4,868 total employees.
Three bridges span the Piscataqua River between Portsmouth and Kittery. The Memorial Bridge and the Sarah Long Bridge are lift bridges while the I-95 bridge spans the estuary between the states.
Maine and New Hampshire had been at a standstill over a plan to overhaul the century-old Memorial Bridge after Cianbro Corp. of Pittsfield put in a $59 million bid that exceeded the states’ joint budget of $44 million.
The New Hampshire DOT proposed a reduced scope of work to refurbish critical parts, a lift truss and towers, for $45 million, but Maine’s DOT balked at the high cost of a targeted repair, arguing that once rehabbed, the bridge would still be an old bridge with a limited life span, said Fuller.
The Memorial Bridge, a WWI monument built between 1920 and 1923, is in an advanced state of disrepair, with steel corroding below the roadway deck, and I-beams and floor beams suffering section losses.
The leading alternative currently being considered is to remove both bridges and install a modern span bridge without a lift, said Bob Landry, a spokesman for the New Hampshire DOT.
Another alternative suggested was to remove the Memorial Bridge and force traffic to the other two bridges.
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