Bridges

This bridge, built in 1868, is 70 feet long and spans the Ellis River. It has Paddleford trusses and is Maine's shortest covered bridge. The bridge was reinforced in 1984 to carry local traffic. It is located at South Andover.

The Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge was built by the towns of Porter and Parsonsfield as a joint project over the Ossipee River in 1859. The bridge is a 152 foot structure of Paddleford construction strengthened with laminated wooded arches. The bridge, located one half mile south of Porter, was closed to traffic in 1960 when a new bridge was built upstream.

This bridge, the only completely shingled covered bridge in the State, was built in 1876. The supporting members are the Long truss design and span 73 feet between the stone abutments. The bridge crosses Kenduskeag Stream in Robyville Village in the town of Corinth about three miles northwest of Kenduskeag Village. The bridge was reinforced in 1984 to carry local traffic.

The Grist Mill Bridge spans the Little River and is located about 3 miles south of East Lebanon on the Little River Road. The Grist Mill Bridge is a stone and timber structure which spans the Little River, just east of the 1774 Old Grist Mill. It is composed of laid rubblestone, rising approximately thirteen feet above normal stream water levels. The bridge deck is fifty-four feet long and twenty-four feet wide. Its existing configuration dates from the early 1950's, when the present design replaced a simpler structure utilizing round logs for stringers, a plank deck, and guardrails of triangular supports linked by a wooden rail. The southeast abutment continues for some fifty feet, acting as a base and retaining wall for the road surface. In 1993, a major renovation project replaced the timber superstructure in-kind and restored the stone pier and abutments. This bridge was entered in the National Register of Historic Places on December 27, 1990.

Hemlock Bridge, built in 1857, is a 109 foot Paddleford truss strengthened with laminated wooden arches. The bridge was reinforced to carry local traffic in 1988. It is located three miles northwest of East Fryeburg over an old channel of the Saco River.

This bridge, built in 1857, was washed away by the flood of April 1, 1987. A modern covered bridge, patterned after the original, was built on the original abutments in 1990. The bridge has a clear span of 120 feet over the Piscataquis River. It is located just off State Route 15 south of Guilford Village.

This bridge is located on Route 24 about 14 miles south of the junction of Route US 1 and 24. For many years, the fishermen who lived on Bailey Island wanted a bridge to connect their island with Orr's Island, and for many years, the town of Harpswell turned down the request. But things changed when the Legislature approved a law allowing the State and the counties to participate in bridge funding, and in 1926, a contract was signed for construction of a new bridge. The bridge design presented some unique problems because of the tides in the area. It was decided to build a crib bridge using granite slabs from nearby quarries, similar in design to a bridge that had been observed in Scotland. The granite slabs were sufficiently heavy to withstand the buffeting of wind and wave and the open cribbing or cellular construction permitted the tide to ebb and flow freely without increasing the normal tidal current to any appreciable degree. A concrete roadway was placed on top of the granite cribs. A sidewalk was added to the bridge in 1951, and guardrails were added in 1961. On July 19, 1984 the Bailey Island Bridge was dedicated as a historic civil engineering landmark. The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This bridge, built in 1901, has trusses of the Paddleford type with a total length of 93 feet. It spans the Magalloway River. The bridge was closed to traffic in 1985. The bridge is located one and a half miles south of Wilson Mills.

The Wire Suspension Bridge spanning the Carrabassett River in New Portland is a unique structure, the only survivor of four such bridges built in Maine in the 1800's and probably the only such bridge still standing in the US. The actual facts of its origin have frequently been misquoted. However, available records indicate the building of the bridge began in 1864 and was completed in 1866. Two men, David Elder and Captain Charles B. Clark, were responsible for the bridge design and construction. The towers are constructed of timber framing and covered with boards protected by cedar shingles. In 1959 the 99th Maine Legislature enacted legislation for the preservation of this bridge. The bridge was renovated in 1961, when the tower bases were capped with concrete, the towers were rebuilt, steel suspender rods were replaced by steel cables, and a new timber deck was installed. The tower framing timbers and main support cables are the original material. The span between towers is 198 feet.

This bridge, built in 1872, is named the Artist's Bridge because of its reputation as being the most photographed and painted of the venerable covered bridges in Maine. The bridge, an 87 foot Paddleford truss, was closed to traffic in 1958 when a new bridge was built downstream. It is located about four miles northwest of North Bethel.

Babbs Bridge was built in 1864. The original bridge was burned by vandals in 1973. An exact replica was constructed and opened to traffic in 1976. It is located two and a half miles north of South Windham, then one half mile west, over the Presumpscot River between the towns of Gorham and Windham.

Sewall's Bridge, built to carry the Organig Road over the York River in York in 1761, is a very old wood-piling bridge. The pilings were of different lengths, the length of each determined by probing the river bottom with a long pole tipped with a pointed piece of iron. The piles were driven into the river bottom by standing them upright, then dropping heavy oak logs on them. The original bridge was so well built that it remained in use until 1934, when it was replaced with a wood pile bridge of a design very similar to that of the original. That replacement bridge is in regular use today. This bridge was dedicated as a historic civil engineering landmark on July 24, 1986.