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Ospreys Keep Watch on Waldo-Hancock Bridge Repairs
The Waldo-Hancock bridge that connects the
counties across the Penobscot River is getting a six-year, $20
million facelift.
PHOTO BY JOHN HUBBARD |
Like Fort Knox, the
Waldo-Hancock Bridge along Route 1 that connects the two counties is
not in Bucksport. But also like Fort Knox, those in Bucksport enjoy
a dramatic view of the historic bridge over the Penobscot River.
Seventy years after
its opening in November 1931, the 2,040-foot-long bridge is in the
midst of a $20 million repair to its substructures. After a 1988
inspection, the New York-based Parsons Transportation Group found
that the bridge could be rehabilitated despite water corrosion in
the main cables and a sag in the bridge deck.
Renovation began on
the bridge in September 2000. Although the restoration is expected
to take as long as six years, the construction effort should be
completed within a four-year stretch, between March 2002 and June
2006.
No actual traffic
impacts, aside from partial lane closures, are anticipated—although
nesting ospreys already provided an unforeseen delay earlier this
spring for Department of Transportation workers.
As for the low-down
on these high-up ospreys, the steel towers are 206 feet high.
That’s where ospreys have sought out perches high above the world
where they hunt.
Construction
activities necessitate the relocation of the ospreys. The plan is to
remove the nests and put them on platforms that will be built
overlooking the river, at the edge of the nearby Flying Dutchmen
Campground in Verona. The platforms will be placed on 40-foot poles,
in the hope that the ospreys will not relocate back to the bridge
during the construction.
Before there ever
was a bridge, there was ferry passage for travelers to Bucksport and
beyond. But that was an inconvenience that slowed both travel and
community growth, because the ferry between Bucksport and Hancock
was not able to keep up with the growing volume of Route 1 traffic.
Drivers were heading north, out of their way, to cross the river 20
miles up at the Bangor-Brewer Bridge.
In 1929 the Maine
Legislature approved a bill providing funds for a bridge over the
Penobscot River. The site between Prospect and Verona Island was
chosen for what would be Maine’s first long-span bridge. It was a
toll bridge for its first 22 years, with tolls ending in 1953, once
the tolls paid for the construction costs.
Imposing yet
graceful, the bridge met with immediate acclaim for its design and
construction. In 1931, the American Institute of Steel Construction
cited the Waldo-Hancock Bridge as the most beautiful steel bridge in
the world made for less than a million dollars (actually, $846,000).
Not surprisingly,
the bridge fulfilled its role in providing an easier way for
travelers to arrive Downeast. It is the transportation link that
resulted in tremendous increases in both population and year-round
tourism. Coastal Route 1 has exploded as a travel destination, with
as many as 8,000 vehicles a day using the bridge, according to the
DOT. That number increases considerably in summer.
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