SALEM TOWNSHIP – A delay in the delivery of structural steel slowed down construction of a new bridge and destruction of a landmark in Salem, but not by much.

Mike Pelletier of the Maine Department of Transportation anticipates the new bridge on Route 149 to open to motorists Friday or early next week. The project, started in June, was expected to be completed by Oct. 9, according to the department’s Web site.

Final touches on the new bridge will take place next spring when temperatures are more conducive to paving.

The bridge is being replaced for safety concerns: Its structural integrity was beginning to fail, according to Pelletier.

The project’s cost is listed on the department’s Web site at $802,991. It is on budget, said Pelletier Monday.

Destruction of the old bridge, a landmark known by locals as the “green bridge,” will begin as soon as the new one is open. It will take a couple of weeks to be removed, piece by piece.

A few locals have been documenting the bridge construction project, taking photographs, said Pelletier. He believes that residents will be glad when the noise from construction ends.