SABATTUS — The Grove Street bridge will be closed starting Monday for repairs to damage caused when an over-height vehicle hit it.
Repairs are estimated to cost $400,000.
The contract was awarded to CPM Constructors from Freeport and the work includes heat straightening and structural steel repairs. The project is part of a larger, $1.3 million contract.
Maine Turnpike Authority
The bridge crosses over the Maine Turnpike at Mile 83.7 in Sabattus. According to the town, approximately 3,200 vehicles travel over the mainline of the Maine Turnpike on Grove Street every day.
The detour will reroute traffic around the construction site using Crowley Road, Middle Road and Sabattus Street. The detour to move traffic from one side of the bridge to the other is approximately 10 miles long.
This is not the first time in recent years the bridge has needed repair work. In a letter posted by the town of Sabattus, Erin Courtney, public outreach manager for the Maine Turnpike Authority, said last year the bridge received “some maintenance work including a new wearing surface and other repairs to bridge joints, the concrete deck and approaches.”
The bridge will be closed for “up to 60 consecutive days,” tentatively starting on Monday.
Not every state tracks bridge strikes, which are when an over-height vehicle collides with a bridge, however an informal survey by an American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials working group found at least 3,000 of such strikes nationwide from 2008 to 2018.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration works to avoid bridge strikes at all costs, as they believe they are a “serious safety hazard resulting in injury and loss of life, damage to infrastructure, interruption of commerce, and delays in travel times.”
The administration wrote that “bridge strikes are avoidable through better awareness of route restrictions along travel paths gained by paying closer attention to road signs and by the use of only those electronic navigation systems intended for trucks and buses.”
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