GUILFORD — It was considered a monumental challenge and an event that will long be remembered by the more than 1,000 spectators who on Thursday witnessed the installation of the replica of Low’s covered bridge over the Piscataquis River.

The bridge connects the towns of Guilford and Sangerville.

Although the project began at 9 a.m. as planned, it took more than seven hours before the bridge was finally in its resting place. The first major challenge to greet Chesterfield Associates, the contractor of the bridge, was the move from the Maine Department of Transportation garage onto Route 15.

Earlier this week, the front end of the 60-ton skeleton of a covered bridge was hooked onto a tractor-trailer truck, and the other end was placed on dollies. Both ends of the bridge were adorned with an American flag.

Employees of the contracting firm worked diligently under the hot sun maneuvering the 150-foot-long bridge onto the main highway, which took about an hour. A ditch and two power lines created some problems, but once onto the main road, the truck carrying the bridge rolled smoothly to the site.

The turn from Route 15 onto the planking installed earlier in the month over the Piscataquis River proved to be the major challenge.

As the tractor-trailer turned the corner, all the weight of the bridge was on one support beam, which broke under the pressure. A second beam was installed beside the broken beam before the move continued. A winch attached to a truck on the Sangerville side of the bridge helped pull the tractor-trailer and bridge across the planking.

Dave Allen, owner of Chesterfield Associates, said the dollies had to be adjusted to make the turns. Allen said his firm had to pay $3,000 to New England Telephone Co. and $1,200 to Central Maine Power Co. to have lines dropped for the passage of the bridge on the highway and then replaced.

Traffic also was rerouted on secondary roads during the move.

Although the company has constructed many bridges over the years, this was the first bridge that Chesterfield Associates had to move into place, Allen said. It was the company’s second covered bridge.

Allen, whose three sons were among the workers moving the bridge, said he was “nervous about it (the move). … This has been a monumental challenge.”

It was a happy day for Dwinal Hall of Guilford, who with William Hume also of Guilford, organized the effort to replace the historic wooden bridge.

“It’s just terrific. You know how much I slept last night thinking about this? None!” Hall exclaimed. As a child, Hall walked often through Low’s covered bridge to his home on the Sangerville side of the river. He also was there when the bridge was washed away by the flood on April 1, 1987.

After the flood, Hall and Hume organized a petition drive which collected more than 5,000 signatures of Maine residents who wanted to see a replica of the bridge installed.

Hall said Thursday that he was working with state officials and Chesterfield Associates to have a time capsule buried at the historic site. He said tentative plans included the burying of a set of plans for the bridge, a videotape of the replacement and of the destruction of the former bridge, and pictures of the bridge.

Hume said he had mixed emotions about the bridge. “You miss the old bridge, but you’re so darn happy a new one is being installed,” he said.

The original Low’s covered bridge, built around 1830 at a cost of about $450, was destroyed in the 1850s. A replacement bridge was constructed in 1857 and lasted until the 1987 flood.

The bridge served as a tourist attraction and as access for Dorothy Tozier to her home located on the Sangerville side of the river. Tozier has had to rely on an abandoned county way that leads from her home to the East Sangerville Road as her main access since 1987.

Guilford Town Manager Robert Littlefield said, “I think this is the greatest thing since they did away with the Guilford Fair.

“This should double the price of Kodak’s stock,” he joked as he gestured toward all the spectators with cameras.

Onlookers came from around the state to watch the move. Mr. and Mrs. Clarence West of Milo were at the site for most of the day watching the operation. Mrs. West said her father, the late Herbert Buzzell, enjoyed visiting the former covered bridge during his later years.

It will take about six more weeks before the bridge is completed, according to Robert Zimmerman, resident engineer for the MDOT. He said the bridge would be lowered about three feet and the false work under the bridge will be removed. The siding and roof of the bridge will be installed at the site.

Only two braces from the former Low’s covered bridge were used in the construction of the new bridge, Zimmerman said.