RILEY TOWNSHIP — Improvements to a pair of bridges over the Sunday River should begin in the next few weeks, a state engineer told the Oxford County commissioners Tuesday.
County officials agreed last year to work with the Maine Department of Transportation to improve the Twin Bridges, also known as the Bull Branch Bridges, on Coburn Field Road. Under the agreement, the MDOT will provide up to $450,000 toward the project; the county must kick in $72,516.
John E. Buxton, a bridge maintenance engineer with the MDOT, said the county match was based on the valuation of the township, so the cost to the county should not change. County Administrator Scott Cole said the county match is included in the current budget for the unorganized territories.
“Hopefully, we can start in a couple of weeks,” Buxton said. “We’ve given the contractor until April 1 to open the bridge.”
Buxton said the work might not be completed by that date, but the passage should be open to traffic by then. The project calls for the replacement of the bridges, with most of the work taking place in the winter when there is reduced use.
According to data from a 2008 state survey, the steel girder bridges are each 41 feet long. The superstructure and deck of each span was determined to be in fair condition, but the substructure was assessed as serious on one bridge and critical on the other.
After the commissioners proposed the possible closing of the bridges in 2008, several people spoke at a hearing to say that the bridges do not lead to homes but do go to popular recreational areas and logging sites. Those places include the Frenchman’s Hole swimming area and 3,500 acres in forest management owned by the Sunday River Skiway Corp.
The estimated cost of the project is $500,000, Buxton said, with the state providing materials. The contract for the work had not been awarded, but the low bid was $265,000.
The project should not affect the annual Maine Mountains Jeep Jamboree, which runs Oct. 1-2 and uses the bridges to access trails in the township.
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