SOUTH BRISTOL, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- It was just one boat, but still made for a big moment Wednesday morning in the small town of South Bristol.
The town's new drawbridge is expected to be once again the busiest such bridge in the state, opened to boat traffic for the first time Wednesday.
The old bridge had been a landmark image of the town because it was in use for more than 80 years. That so-called “swing bridge” pivoted sideways to open.
The swing bridge was torn out in November.
The new bridge lifts vertically and is the first one like it in Maine. The busy channel connecting South Bristol’s primary fishing harbor to the Damariscotta River is a busy one, especially in summer, when the bridge can open as many as a thousand times in a single month.
Construction crews from Cianbro worked through the winter and early spring to get the new one built and open on time. Project manager Andrew Hallett said they worked 24-hours per day for six days a week, eventually moving to seven days a week to get the job done by the contract deadline--- which was Wednesday.
The bridge opened to road traffic on Saturday, and the crews finished tearing out the temporary bridge Tuesday. The final step was letting boat traffic through the bridge.
That first boat, carrying about a dozen local and summer residents, went through the bridge opening and back again shortly after 9 AM. A group of children from the local school joined residents and construction workers to cheer as the boat went through. Some of the same people on board had been on the same boat last October, for the next-to-the-last trip through the old bridge.
The design for the new bridge was controversial in the town for several years, but there was general agreement that a new bridge was needed. The disagreement was over design, with some people arguing for a replacement swing bridge to maintain the same look of the village. MDOT officials, however, said the lift bridge would be less expensive to maintain and operate over its 75-year lifespan.
The original design, however, caused a lot of dissent, and an opposition group paid for a Boston architect to do an alternative design.
The MDOT said it liked aspects of that plan and created the compromise design that was finally built.
The new bridge will be open to boat traffic on a limited basis each day for the next few weeks while work on the new span continues. The entire project, including all road work, lights and completion of the new operator’s building, is expected to be finished in mid-summer.