OXFORD — A Maine Department of Transportation official told residents Tuesday night that solutions for problems at the Little Androscoggin River bridge on Route 121 near King Street will range from rehabilitating it to replacing it.

The bridge has been placed on a two-year, statewide bridge capital improvement plan and the DOT official and others were in town to hear from residents as part of their design process.

Many residents said the bridge needs to be widened to accommodate children and others who walk across it daily.

“That bridge is very dangerous,” said Lynn Cummings of Skeetfield Road, who often walks her dog on a path that crosses the bridge. “I wait till there’s no traffic then I run across it.”

Cummings, who along with others said she favors a complete replacement of the 72-year-old bridge, was one of about 12 residents who turned out for a public hearing at the Town Hall. 

Problems at the bridge include its narrowness, scouring of the river bed and structural decay.

The bridge was built in 1940 to replace a covered on. It’s considered structurally deficient but safe, Stephen Bodge, project manager for the Department of Transportation, said.

“To all of you who drive across the bridge, the bridge is safe,” he said.

Jack Burgess, a senior structural engineer with Becker Structural Engineering in Portland, said the alternatives are to replace the decking and renovate the footings and pier caps. That work would keep the bridge afloat for another 25 years, he said.

Bridge replacement would address those problems plus the narrowness issue. It could also mean the bridge would be reconfigured at a slightly different angle upstream.

Bodge said the DOT will come back to the town at the end of this year or early next year with a preliminary recommendation to residents.

Eighty percent of the bridge work would be paid for by the federal government and 20 percent by the state. There would be no local dollars involved in any work, Bodge said.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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