LINCOLN PLANTATION – The sole survivor of three covered bridges that once crossed the Magalloway River is about to be rehabilitated.

Built in 1898, the Bennett-Bean Covered Bridge off Route 16 just south of Wilsons Mills, was closed to traffic in 1985.

Now, Prock Marine Co. of Rockland is expected to restore its 92-foot span to again facilitate vehicle traffic on Littlehale Road through one of the five remaining covered bridges in Oxford County.

In December, the Maine Department of Transportation accepted Prock’s bid of $373,241 for the project, which is expected to be completed by Nov. 3.

Construction equipment and materials were at the site and ready for work Sunday.

Author Randall Bennett, in his book “Oxford County, Maine, A Guide to Historic Architecture,” wrote that the bridge was framed and raised by the Mason Brothers of Bethel.

“All materials, except for planking for the bridge floor, were purchased in Upton, rafted across Umbagog Lake, and floated up the Magalloway River, a trip that took six days for the twenty-five mile distance.” Bennett wrote.

The state transportation department began renovating Maine’s 10 remaining covered bridges in 1961 after the Maine Legislature in 1959 approved a law to preserve wooden covered bridges. It provided that state money could be used to save and renovate covered bridges.

In 1985, the Legislature gave the transportation department the authority to maintain and preserve historic bridges having a unique design. Nine are left after a March 1983 fire destroyed the 1882 Morse bridge in Bangor.

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