Belfast moving to save old bridge

BELFAST – Teams of bridge-watchers manned the span over the Passagassawaukeag River this weekend to record the public’s use of the popular footbridge.

Volunteers were posted at each end of the bridge and recorded the number of people using the bridge and also their opinions about preserving the favorite walking link to either side of the river.

“I want to save the bridge,” said bridge-watcher Gail Clark of Belfast. “I love the bridge and use it a lot. My mother saw this bridge open when she was a young girl and I’ve heard a lot of stories about this bridge over the years. It’s an important part of Belfast.”

In the coming months, Clark and other city residents will be asked to decide the fate of the 77-year-old bridge at the head of the harbor. Public hearings will be held early next year and a referendum on the bridge will take place either in June or November.

The bridge has been a popular walkway over the river since it was closed to vehicular traffic nearly four decades ago when it was replaced by a modern bridge further up river. The city never maintained the old bridge and it has gradually fallen into disrepair.

Although its support piers are deemed sound, the bridge deck will need to be replaced if it is to be kept open for future generations. The other option is to abandon the bridge and remove its superstructure. Either solution will be costly.

“There will be a financial cost no matter what happens,” said city manager Terry St. Peter. “We would have to bear the cost of removing the bridge, but there is some financial assistance available for replacing the superstructure.”

It is estimated that it could cost more than $2 million to repair the bridge. The state Department of Transportation has already committed $500,000 to the project and the City Council has been setting aside $100,000 a year since 1999. Should the voters choose to repair the bridge, the balance of the money needed to fund the project would likely be obtained through a long-term bond issue, St. Peter said on Friday.

The Bridge Watch was organized by the city’s pedestrian river crossing committee to obtain detailed head counts of those using the bridge. Throughout the weekend volunteers worked two-hour shifts on the bridge, chatting with and keeping count of those using the bridge.

The bridge is a popular spot for fishing, bike riding, walking, running and, most importantly, commuting from one side of the city to the other. Many people from the city’s east side use the bridge to reach the downtown and do their shopping.

“The Bridge Watch people want to show that a wide range of people are using the bridge and that there is great value in preserving it,” said Tammy Lacher Scully, Belfast city councilor and member of the pedestrian river crossing committee. “The footbridge is a real asset to the community.”

The 1,000-foot span was built in 1923 and served as part of Route 1 until the Veterans Memorial Bridge opened in 1963. The state turned the old bridge over to the city when the new bridge opened. Engineering studies performed on the bridge in the late 1990s found that while two of its 16 support piers were in need of repair, the structure itself was basically sound. Those repairs were made two summers ago at a cost of $60,000.

What still needs to be determined is what type of surface should be used as a replacement. The current concrete deck and railings are rotting from within as moisture has permeated the system of steel reinforcement bars, causing them to rust and expand.

Studies undertaken by the pedestrian river crossing committee indicated it could cost as much as $3 million to repair the bridge with a conventional deck. A wood-composite process developed at the University of Maine and used to span rivers in the north woods could run about $2 million.

Whatever the cost, saving the bridge is worth it, husband and wife Betty Gould and Gil DeGraff of Belfast said Sunday. He and Gould “use the bridge every chance we get,” said DeGraff, “and I think we should save it, that’s for sure.”

Gould described a walk on the bridge as a spiritual moment, and one that should be preserved for generations.

“You’re closer to God down here,” said Gould. “If anyone wants to come down and say a prayer, this is the place.”