Lisbon/Durham ? The new Lisbon/Durham Bridge, which carries Route 9/125 over the Androscoggin River, has opened to traffic today, Monday, July 11th.
This $6 million bridge project began in November of 2014 and will be finished approximately one year early.
The new bridge consists of two 11ft. lanes with 5ft. shoulders and a 5ft. sidewalk along the upstream side of the bridge. The new wider bridge is a major improvement over the previous bridge, which had only 22ft. clear roadway width and restricted the height of trucks due to the overhead frames of the truss. While there is still approach roadway curves at both ends of the bridge, the new crossing is much more open and improves sight distance for motorists. Additionally, the roadway striping and signing will help increase safety at the Route 9 intersection. Also, the shoulders have been widened at the curves to allow for large tractor-trailer trucks to cross the bridge safely.
In addition to the new bridge, a $2 million road project to stabilize Route 9 has been completed. The realignment of Route 9 allows for 11ft. travel lanes with 5ft. paved shoulders. This was performed to address concerns for slope stability in the river bank area that had begun to show distress in the last few years. This new alignment takes Route 9 away from the river.
The original bridge was built in 1936.
Wyman & Simpson of Richmond is the contractor for the project. They have been serving Maine since 1924. As we mark the 100th year anniversary of Acadia National Park, it should be noted that Wyman and Simpson built the beautiful stone bridges throughout Acadia that are still in use today.