A safety inspection of the bridge connecting Brunswick and Topsham’s downtown areas is expected to disrupt some traffic Monday and Tuesday.
Ted Talbot, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Transportation, said in a news release that the Frank J. Wood Bridge, which carries 19,000 vehicles a day over the Androscoggin River, is due to be inspected both days. That means that northbound traffic will need to be detoured during the inspections. Northbound traffic will resume each evening.
Talbot said cars traveling north on Routes 201 and 24 will be detoured onto Route 1 north to Route 196. Southbound traffic will be permitted to use the bridge during the inspection.
Monday and Tuesday’s inspection was initiated after a routine biannual bridge safety inspection in June “prompted the need for a closer inspection,” Talbot said. He said MDOT engineers are in the process of gathering data for future repairs.
Earlier this year, the MDOT confirmed that it is considering replacing the Frank J. Wood Bridge at an estimated cost of $13 million. Construction would start no earlier than 2018.
The bridge was built in 1931.
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