When we reopened the line out to Bridge Street, a Maine Central flatcar frame was used to span this small creek using the one remaining concrete abutment and reaching the top of the slope left by the collapsed abutment on the North side. This bridge began showing it's age in the 1990's and soon was deemed in need of replacement. Our Bridge Engineer gave the nod for 12 tons, but not a pound more. That let out using our two Brookvilles over the bridge, let alone any hope of ever operating steam. This drawing shows the layout of the flatcar bridge, the remnant of the original abutment at the bottom of the slope, and one proposal for shortening the span part way back to the original.

Another idea was to reconstruct the original North abutment shortening the span to the original 11.9 feet from the current 29.5 feet. This is what the span looked like according to the 1916 survey.

After a year long wait for action, this project has gone full speed ahead. Over the winter, we came to closure on a bridge design that would support a 38 ton Forney and obtained the necessary steel. When the volunteers arrived on the morning of April 13, 2002, the old bridge had been removed, the excavation done, and the footing formed and poured. Yes, that is snow on the shoulders of the right-of-way.

By the end of the day on April 13, the rebar was in place as were most of the forms. The original concrete abutments were poured a board width at a time - 7 to 13 inches high. Remember, there was no plywood, no ready mix trucks in those days. The only rebar in evidence on the original North abutment was a piece of 40 lb. rail run vertically where the wing wall met the face wall. The aggregate used was also a little odd, smooth river stones on the order of 6-8 inches in diameter.

On May 4, 2002, the Board of Directors held their Spring Meeting, which is commonly the occasion of a work weekend too. Here, you see the prefabricated bridge section being lifted and carried to position. Note that we removed our sidings over the winter to make room, and covered the mainline with enough dirt to protect it from the heavy equipment.

This pair of girders is the main carrying structure of the new bridge. There is an additional set of pads in place for a third girder that will carry a walkway when we get done. The distance between faces of the abutments on the new bridge is 16.5 feet. This allowed us to avoid working in the stream bed which would not only have been much more difficult, but the permit to do that kind of work is also a difficult issue.

As a time and cost expedient, we were able to salvage the deck, complete with rail, from the old bridge. We knew we were going to be about 2 inches higher than the old bridge based on some early estimates, but we were a little surprised to see a 4 inch elevation difference. Just more ballast to be hauled and tamped.

Here is part of the crew shimming the approach track up to the new bridge elevation. This work went on until late on Saturday afternoon and continued Sunday morning with one more load. On Monday, May 6, the North abutment parapet walls were poured. The bridge, without it's walkway, was put in service on May 14, 2002.

Though this project is not yet complete, the SR&RL wishes to thank the following for their considerable and timely support: First, many thanks go to Emmons Lancaster of the Maine Narrow Gauge Museum for the design of the bridge. In addition, the constuction phase was supported by George Berry Construction, USA Concrete, and Mount Blue Builders Supply Co (all from Phillips) and Nichols' Custom Welding (of Farmington). Thank you one and all!

August, 2002 finds the walkway in place, though the railing and walkway approaches have yet to be completed. A month later, long ties were laid in the foreground to carry the switch stand (cantilevered outside the line of the walkway) and the walkway approach.

Here is the bridge with both walkway approaches completed.