Bids sought on new public boat launch on Androscoggin River

This is the site of the new Mexico public boat launch on the Androscoggin River across from the towering stack at NewPage's paper mill. Picture a 12-foot-wide paved approach going right down the center to a 12-foot wide precast concrete plank ramp extending 4.5 feet below the water level at the 88-foot elevation mark.

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- Terry Karkos/Sun Journal

This site plan by Pine Tree Engineering of Bath shows the design of the new Androscoggin River public boat launch off Route 2 (Main Street) and Mexico Plaza in Mexico.

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- Terry Karkos/Sun Journal

MEXICO — Come November there won't be any need to wade through knee-deep mud to launch boats into the Androscoggin River via its Swift River confluence.

Requests for proposals are now being sought from contractors to build a new concrete public boat launch ramp into the river from the rear east corner of Mexico Plaza behind the Family Dollar building.

Town Manager John Madigan said Wednesday morning that the joint project by the Maine Department of Conservation and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has been in the works for two years.

However, state officials put off the project until now due to high water, he added.

George Powell, director of the Boating Facilities Division of the Bureau of Parks and Lands, said the project is funded by a grant-in-aid to Mexico from the Boating Facilities Fund. It is administered by his division.

Madigan said Mexico's match is the already-paved parking lot and ownership of the land.

The grant to the town includes the provision of engineering design services, 28 concrete planks and a cash reimbursement. Pine Tree Engineering of Bath designed the project under the division's program.

The project will include construction of a 12-foot-wide concrete plank and asphalt-paved boat launching ramp behind the Town Hall, Powell said. 

Additionally, the existing parking lot will be striped to delineate boater parking, including one handicap accessible parking space.

Currently, there is a tree-lined eroded path toward the river's edge.

Powell said the boat access site is an improvement over the existing access on the Swift River off Carlton Street in Mexico.

Madigan said the project must be completed by Nov. 1, which is why the deadline to file bids is Wednesday, Aug. 25. Bid packages are available at the town office, where proposals will be opened and read aloud at 2 p.m. Aug. 25.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com