Work to start in April on new US$97.5M bridge between New Brunswick and Maine
By On-Site Staff
BridgesWork to replace a century-old bridge over the Saint John River that connects Edmundston, N.B. to Madawaska, Maine will start this spring.
The Maine Department of Transportation and the New Brunswick Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said April 1 they awarded an US$86.5 million contract for construction of the new bridge to Maine’s Reed & Reed Inc. The Maine DOT had pre-qualified three contractors to bid on the project last December, including one from New Brunswick, though the Canadian builder did not ultimately submit a bid.
The new bridge will be built about half a kilometre upstream from the current bridge and run nearly twice as long because of the new alignment. Employing steel girders and concrete substructures, the bridge will be designed to stand 100 years. Costs for the project total $97.5 million. Maine and New Brunswick will share roughly half these costs, with U.S. federal funding footing the rest of the bill.
Crews are scheduled to start work on the project in April. Construction is expected to wrap up by the end of 2023, clearing the way for the demolition of the old bridge.
