March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Portland bridge work set to begin

PORTLAND — A Gorham construction company will begin work in February on the first phase of a new $160 million bridge connecting Portland and South Portland.

R.J. Grondin & Sons was selected to reconstruct a half-mile stretch of Broadway in South Portland and prepare the approach to the new bridge. The winning contract totaled $2.8 million.

The Broadway project is the first component of a multiple-phase bridge project that state engineers designed to replace the 77-year-old Million Dollar Bridge.

The first phase of the bridge should be completed by July 1995, said James Dunn, a project manager for Grondin. The bridge is scheduled to be opened to traffic in the fall of 1997.

The state also is ready to begin construction of a foundation in the river for the drawbridge, although the opening bid was delayed, said Larry Roberts, an engineer for the Maine Department of Transportation.

The state delayed putting the foundation to bid because of a federal Labor Department ruling that would have doubled wage rate standards. The state appealed, and the wages were adjusted downward this week.

Bids will be sought next fall for the final phase of the project, including the drawbridge superstructure and approach spans.


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