Maine has 288 bridges in 'poor' condition; 239 more than 80 years old

[Maine-ah]

AUGUSTA (Aug 8): It would cost an estimated $500 million for Maine to replace all 288 bridges currently listed in poor condition — an estimate that’s taken on new significance since a bridge in Minneapolis collapsed last week into the Mississippi River

http://knox.villagesoup.com/Government/story.cfm?storyID=97741

[mainegreen]

1. Not the Bailey Island bridge!

:cry:
I love that thing. It's totally unique.

Still, after the bridge collapse, I thought about all the bridges I ride on. Luckily, most of the bridges in Portland are very new, and the three I travel on most are all less than five years old.

I know a few back home though that are basically missing big chunks and have been that way for a long time.

Edited for my hideously embarrassing spelling of Bailey Island.

[Maine-ah]

2. the bridge on the way to my house is rather scary.

missing chunks of concrete, splits in the steel......:scared:

[luckyleftyme2]

3. the crib bridge of bailey island

this has had an over haul recently. we have several bridges in maine that are of rare construction.
another I worked on was the cousin island bridge. the contractor was ellis snodgrass who had a reputation as an excellent bridge contractor. the last bridge layout and const I worked on was the westport island,maine turnpike, payne road,ewing narrows and several bridge act jobs from rockland to berwick.
65 billion dollars will rebuild the nations bridges,but i've already posted this here and in the main discussion blogs.
instead we waste money in iraq trying to prop up a government that now is turning to iran to survive.
public works projects help keep us a prosperous nation as the money stays here.

[luckyleftyme2]

4. an after thought

I was 18 when I worked on the naples causeway bridge it was part of the rte#302 re alignment and improvement project. north windam had a couple of businesses at the intersection of rte#115 and rte#302.
the engineering company I worked for had several bridge projects goimg at the time.
my time flies!

[Shorebound]

5. Route 1

The bridge on Route 1 in Woolwich across the Nequasset is a little scary, too. There's a pothole on the right edge of the northbound lane that looks like it can take your wheel off. The DOT fills it, it opens up again, they fill it, ... In fact, I've noticed that Route 1 in general between Bath and Wiscasset looks pretty beat up.

[luckyleftyme2]

6. THE MOST DANGEROUS FEATURE of RTE#1

Most accidents occur on that stretch of road because of sun blindness. their has been several bad accidents because of the sun.(woolwich)

[luckyleftyme2]

7. concrete

concrete has a short life span, it depends on additives but generally starts to deteriorate after 20-30 years. faster when exposed to salt and weather.

[high density]

8. Yeah that bridge needs to be resurfaced very soon

I hope that the deficiencies on that one are only skin deep.

I too can't believe how horrible Rt 1 is in Wiscasset. The road is chewed up so badly that I can't straddle some of the the bumps in my car anymore. They did do a few lame patches but it still needs a lot more work. I dream of the day that Rt 1 is four lanes from Bath to Rockland, with a bypass for Wiscasset. Tourism is our number one industry but our roads simply are not geared up to handle it. I-295 from the start in South Portland to Brunswick is horribly inadequate in the summer as well but I don't think upgrading it is even on the radar.

[Shorebound]

9. High Density

I agree: Route 1 is awful between Bath and Wiscasset, especially inside the Wiscasset town line. I've seen drivers weaving like drunks trying to avoid the worst of the broken pavement. Thing is, MDOT just resurfaced that stretch a couple of years ago, didn't it?

The MDOT was planning a four-lane Route 1 as far as Camden at one time, then suggested an entirely new four-lane highway running inland of Route 1. Both ideas were shot down by local folks. And I honestly couldn't support major new road construction now anyway with all that's going on with oil supplies. Just maintaining what we have is already eating up most of the money. Any new public transportation investment should go into rail electrification and upgrades IMO.