MADRID TOWNSHIP – The Franklin County Commissioners voted Tuesday afternoon to move forward with a temporary bridge over Orbeton Stream on the Reeds Mill Road in Madrid Township.
This month, the State of Maine Department of Transportation notified the county that the bridge over Orbeton Stream, located between the Reeds Mill Church and the intersection of Reeds Mill Road and Railroad Road, was not suitable for heavy traffic. The bridge has been posted for three tons with additional signage for one vehicle to cross the bridge at a time.
According to the county’s road commissioner Mike Pond and Jim Foster, the ‘Bridge Ranger’ for Maine Local Roads, the beams underneath the bridge failed inspection due to rust damage.
As the bridge is now posted for a limit of three tons, it is inaccessible to plow trucks, ambulances and fire apparatus, delivery trucks, fuel and oil trucks, buses, and even larger passenger vehicles carrying a load. This presents the county with a safety hazard and makes it impossible to plow and maintain the bridge. While there is a way around without crossing on that bridge, it could add as much as an extra fifteen miles, county staff said.
“You’re cutting the town in half,” Commissioner Bob Carlton said.
The county commissioners held a meeting on location Tuesday at noon, where they met with Foster, Pond, Franklin County Emergency Management Agency, and Blaine Miller with Dirigo Engineering to examine the bridge and discuss options.
Foster presented three possible solutions for the county. The first two options, different ways to conduct repairs to the steel beams, would require engineering work before the work could be done and the bridge could be opened to heavier traffic.
The third option was to rent a single lane temporary bridge from a company in Pennsylvania. The temporary bridge could be delivered to the location and laid over the existing bridge in such a way that the weight of vehicles would be on the temporary bridge, not on the existing bridge. This would allow heavier traffic to cross the bridge.
The costs for renting this temporary bridge would be $170 per day for the first 90 days, then $150 per day. An additional freight expense of $20,000 would be necessary, making the total cost for the first year about $75,000.
This would provide an immediate solution and allow time for the county to research the options and go out to bid for an engineer.
“The temporary bridge would solve everybody’s problems, for now,” Foster said.
Miller, with Dirigo Engineering, proposed an alternative. Dirigo could fabricate and install a single lane temporary bridge over the existing bridge, similar to Foster’s suggestion, but the county would purchase that temporary bridge from Dirigo and own it outright. The cost is expected to be fairly comparable to the cost of renting and trucking in a temporary bridge.
The county would then be able to repurpose the bridge in other areas if it became necessary.
After the meeting in Madrid, the commissioners reconvened in the county courthouse at their regular meeting time of 3:30 p.m. They discussed the options further and voted to authorize Dirigo Engineering to construct a temporary bridge over Orbeton Stream on the Reeds Mill Road. Funds for this project will come from the county’s bridge reserve account.
Until the temporary bridge is completed, the bridge will remain posted. County Administrator Amy Bernard said that Franklin County EMA would assist with notifying public safety agencies that work in and respond to that area. The commissioners and county administration discussed notifying homeowners, although there are a number of camps and second homes in the area so a mailing would not necessarily be practical.
The second portion of this meeting, which occurred in the county courthouse and includes a summary of the discussion held in Madrid, was recorded by Mt. Blue TV and is available for viewing online at MtBlueTV.org
