BANGOR, Maine — Three bridges connecting Bangor and Brewer are set to be rehabilitated in the coming years, according to the Maine Department of Transportation.
Altogether, the projects are expected to cost $5.7 million. The Maine DOT's work plan has the construction scheduled between 2022 and 2024, but an exact timeline isn't available at this time. All three projects still need to go out for bid before work can begin.
"There may be some traffic impacts, but on two of these three projects, the work is significantly below deck of the bridge," Maine DOT Director of Communications Paul Merill said.
The Veterans Remembrance Bridge, which is part of I-395, is expected to go out to bid this winter, according to MaineDOT.
The work on the bridge will involve replacing deteriorated bridge bearings, improving drainage details below bridge joints, and rehabilitating select areas of concrete substructure components, according to MaineDOT Assistant Bridge Program Manager Jeff Folsom. Since the construction will focus on elements below the deck elevation, traffic disruption should be minimal.
Every day, 33,040 drivers cross the bridge, according to the Maine DOT.
The Penobscot Bridge will also have work done. The Maine DOT expects the project to cost $1,000,000.
The bridge work will address some concrete deterioration. Traffic disruption at this point is expected to be minimal, but as preliminary engineering progresses, there may be a need to perform work on the top-side bridge joint components, which would necessitate some temporary lane closures. This project is scheduled to advertise for bids in 2024.
On average, 19,176 vehicles cross the bridge daily.
The last one of the three bridges to be worked on is the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge, which is estimated to have 12,734 vehicles cross it every day.
The project for this bridge is budgeted to cost $1,500,000. The bridge will be repaved, which the Maine DOT warns will require temporary lane closures. However, since this won't be a full replacement of the bridge's wearing surface, the project should move along fairly quickly with minimal traffic disruptions.
“This is preservation work," Merill told NEWS CENTER Maine. "This is because infrastructure needs attention over time."