BETHEL – In 1999, Bethel achieved worldwide fame for building the world’s tallest snowman.

If all goes according to plan next summer and fall, the town will rack up another record. That of having the longest pedestrian-bicycle-snowmobile bridge in the state.

But, unlike their “Angus, King of the Mountain” snowman, the town doesn’t have to build the 400-foot-long steel-truss bridge over the Androscoggin River.

Instead, the Maine Department of Transportation will hire a contractor next spring using $1 million of federal enhancement funds to build the much-anticipated bridge.

That’s what a crowd of 50 people learned Tuesday night at the transportation department’s public meeting on the proposed project.

“This is another good piece of infrastructure for Bethel,” Cole said. “Bethel offers world-class skiing and world-class snowmobiling and this just puts us at the forefront. We have as good snowmobile riding as Rangeley, but we’re closer.”

Bethel bridge project manager Andy MacDonald of MDOT and John Byatt, the project manager for consultant Louis Berger Group Inc. of Manchester, N.H., explained the project and outlined several options.

Then MacDonald surprised the crowd when he asked them to determine which option the state should build, among other details.

The group chose a prefabricated, weathered steel bridge to be placed on two piers, which will be located behind the Route 2 bridge piers to better protect them from ice floes and debris. There will be a 100-foot gap between the two bridges that will parallel each other.

The recreational bridge will consist of three 10-foot-wide sections – two 120-foot-long pieces and another measuring 160 feet long.

In the winter, the new bridge is slated to be used to provide a safe snowmobile crossing. That’s why the structure will be 10 feet wide – to accommodate snowmobile club grooming machines and provide two-way snowmobile traffic.

Preliminary costs for the bridge were pegged at $1,032,384.

After the prefabricated option was selected, abutter Jeff Parsons of Bethel Outdoor Adventure and Campground kept the group on a fast track in resolving other details MacDonald sought, so as to expedite the process.

Parsons said that he and his wife, Pattie, are “very encouraged about the proposal.” They have already offered the town the right to extend the Bethel’s river trail around their property via the bridge.

Town Manager Scott Cole and Bethel Water District Trustee Mike Broderick are slated to work with MacDonald to run sewer and water utility lines on the bridge’s underside.

As for the decking, the group approved using pressure treated wood preserved with chromated copper arsenate for the main base, over which will be placed a sacrificial layer consisting of 2-inch thick hemlock boards.

MacDonald said the sacrificial layer would have to be replaced every three to five years depending on use.

Barring any unforeseen problems, the project will go out to bid in late spring or early summer. By next fall, it should be substantially completed.

“Hypothetically speaking, the bridge could be in place and usable by next winter,” MacDonald said when pressed by Jeff Parsons. Finishing touches like loaming and seeding are slated to be completed in spring 2005.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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