LIVERMORE FALLS - Preventative maintenance work on the Route 4 bridge over the Androscoggin River will begin Monday with the setting up of signs and temporary traffic control lights.

Maine Department of Transportation is putting on a new wearing surface to protect the bridge, bridge maintenance manager Herb Noyes said Thursday.

The black top on the bridge will be replaced with concrete, he said, and repairs to the deck will be done to make the bridge last as long as possible.

The bridge will be reduced to one lane for the project, which is expected to last eight to 10 weeks depending on the weather, he said.

The state had planned to do maintenance work on another bridge but after testing it was determined that the bridge was in better shape than the one leading from Livermore to Livermore Falls, Noyes said.

A rough estimate of cost for the repairs is $100,000 to $120,000 unless major problems are found, he added.

"The asphalt is cracking up really bad and what we're trying to do is to prevent the deck underneath from deteriorating," Noyes said. "That's why we call the top coat a wearing surface because it is a lot cheaper to do that than replace the deck, needless to say."

People traveling from Goding Road in Livermore will be prohibited from making left turns onto the bridge during the project, Noyes said. Instead, a detour will be up Botka Hill Road.

Lights will be placed at the south end of the bridge, right before the bridge on the Livermore side and between the bridge and the railroad crossing on the Livermore Falls end. A sign will be installed to alert drivers not to stop on railroad tracks, he said.

Livermore town officials were opposed to having no left turn off Goding, town administrative assistant Kurt Schaub said. Botka Hill Road is narrow and not a good road for trucks to have to take off of Goding Road in a detour.

Another road project begins Monday in Livermore Falls with the railroad crossings on Main and Depot streets being repaired.

The railroad crossings on those streets will be closed to traffic from 8 am. Monday, July 7, through 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 9.

A detour for those three days will be on Pleasant Street to Church Street. The downtown areas will be accessible from Water Street and Foundry Street.

The Bridge Street crossing, also known as Route 4, will be closed to traffic from 6 a.m. Monday, July 14 through 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 15.