Committee recommends bridge design

BUCKSPORT – The local project advisory committee sent a strong message Wednesday night on its preference for a bridge design that will replace the Waldo-Hancock Bridge.

By a 10-4 vote, the committee recommended that the Maine Department of Transportation build a double-plane, cable stayed bridge. It was a tough decision for the committee members, many of whom initially indicated a preference for another suspension bridge.

The committee members were adamant that they did not want a single-plane, cable stayed bridge, which they referred to as the “space needle,” and through consensus removed it from consideration.

That decision puts the DOT into “an interesting box,” according to Deputy Commissioner Bruce Van Note. Department officials have previously indicated a preference for the single-plane, cable stayed design, as has Earle Shettleworth, the director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, which also will make a recommendation on the bridge design.

Shettleworth indicated last week that the single-plane design offered an opportunity for a bridge that was sleek and elegant. Committee members on Wednesday, however, argued that design did not fit in with the historic setting of the town or nearby Fort Knox, or the natural setting of the river itself.

“The clear recommendation from the [project advisory committee] is for a double-plane bridge,” Van Note said. “That puts them at odds with the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. Obviously, we need to get those two groups together. We know the PAC’s feelings. We need to see how flexible the commission would be in its position.”

The important decision in terms of the department’s accelerated schedule for construction was the choice between a suspension bridge and a cable stayed bridge, and he praised the committee for its hard work.

“I’m very impressed with the PAC. They showed just how difficult a decision this was, but they stayed with it and came out with a solid recommendation.”

The department will meet with federal officials and make a formal decision on the basic style within the next few days, he said, but the decision on single- or double-plane can wait until later in the process.

In the cable stayed design, the cables that support the bridge deck are attached to the towers and extend fanlike to the deck. The single-plane design has one row of cables extending from pylons running to the center of the bridge structure. With a double-plane design, two sets of cables run from the towers to the outside of the bridge deck.

Committee member Joel Wardwell outlined the design the committee ultimately recommended, a double-plane bridge with a steel substructure and 12-foot travel lanes and 10-foot shoulders.

Wardwell reviewed a number of reasons for choosing that design, including the fact that it does not require the use of post-tensioning tendons, a support and strengthening device that has been problematic in many cable stayed bridges.

Time and money also were factors in the committee’s decision, with many committee members accepting arguments made over the past weeks that the suspension bridge would cost more and take longer to build.

They also indicated that the double-plane, cable stayed alternative offers a chance to replicate to some degree the existing bridge.