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Bridge planking set: Carrabassett Valley bridge project update

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Workers with Reed & Reed work to install the permanent bridge planking over Brackett Brook on Thursday in the rain. “The Bracket Brook bridge is now 80 percent finished,” said Jack Turner, the project's superintendent.

CARRABASSETT VALLEY – Work to install two permanent replacement bridges on Route 27 is moving right along. The two bridges on both sides of the Access Road to Sugarloaf collapsed on Aug. 28, as Tropical Storm Irene swept through Maine and dropped a reported 8 inches of rain in a relatively short period of time on the mountain.

With the bridges out, Route 27, a major north-south connector, was closed until the two temporary bridges were installed and re-opened in record time just a week after the collapse on Sept. 6. The permanent bridges are scheduled to be completed the week before Thanksgiving.

The temporary and permanent bridge replacement work is being completed by Reed & Reed of Woolwich and the Maine Department of Transportation. The project’s cost total is expected to be between $2.5 million and $3.5 million, Maine DOT officials said earlier.

On Thursday, photographer Stephan Mitman was on hand to capture the progress towards rebuilding two permanent bridges.

They began the process at noon on Thursday and by 4:30 they had set six of eight planks.
“We will have the last two in place by 9 a.m. tomorrow morning,” said Jack Turner, the project's superintendent.
In light rain, two large cranes lifted the massive concrete planks off of flatbed tractor trailers. Only one heavy plank could be transported at a time by the truck. The second bridge over the Carrabassett River is also proceeding well according to TurnerThe crane's operator is Toby Ray.
The concrete sections will be secured together by tensioned cables that will be threaded through a series of holes that have been cast into each section. “After that, all we have to do is install railings and pave it,” Turner said.
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