NORWAY – Work will begin in mid-May on replacing the bridge at the base of Pike’s Hill in downtown Norway.

Benjamin Foster, project manager for the Maine Department of Transportation, said the bridge will be closed to traffic during the entire six-months of construction. Drivers will be directed to use Water Street off Route 118 to access Pike’s Hill Road.

Local abutters will still have access to their driveways, he added.

The contract for the work was awarded last week to T. Buck Construction Inc. of Auburn for $460,000.

“Half a million is not a lot of money for a bridge of this type,” Foster said.

The work will also involve sewer replacement and other incidental work by the town, said Town Manager David Holt.

Existing abutments will be reused along the 50-foot bridge span over the Pennesseewassee Stream, and precast concrete walls will be supported by steel H-beams, Foster said.

The iron rails of the 64-year-old bridge will be replaced with steel guard rails designed in such a way that children can still fish from the bridge, Foster said.

The state’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife established a kids-only fishing program along the stream several years ago, and local leaders worked with the state to ensure that the fishing program would not be eliminated by the bridge replacement.

The curbs and the roadway from Route 118 to the bridge will be completely redone and repaved, Foster said. On the other side of the bridge, the roadway will be reconstructed 120 feet back from the existing abutments, to include the two driveways of the former C.B. Cummings & Sons mill and the apartment house across the street.

Foster said the state will send out a notice before it closes the road to traffic.