Contractors mobilized this week to start early stages in a project that will ultimately replace the Frank J. Wood Bridge that links Brunswick and Topsham over the Androscoggin River, despite a multi-year legal battle with a local group that hopes a pending request to halt the project comes through.
Woolwich-based construction company Reed & Reed is expected to complete the $49.9 million project by 2026. The Frank J. Wood Bridge will remain open during construction, but residents should expect some road closures in 2025.
The 91-year-old steel truss bridge will be replaced by a four-span steel plate girder and concrete structure. The new design includes sidewalks, wider shoulders, pedestrian viewpoints and lighting fixtures, according to Paul Merrill, Maine DOT director of communications.
The bridge replacement has been delayed for years by legal battles with the Friends of the Frank J. Wood Bridge, which partnered with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Historic Bridge Foundation to stop the project and preserve the existing bridge.
“From the very beginning, it has been the icon of Brunswick and Topsham,” said John Graham, bridge group president. “As time goes by, it has proved it would be significantly cheaper to rehabilitate. It doesn’t make taxpayer sense, and the bridge that’s going in there is not fitting for that location.”
The Federal Highway Administration determined in...
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