Ticonic Bridge - Waterville/Winslow ME

City:: Waterville, Winslow, ME
Site Type:: Infrastructure and Utilities, Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels
New Deal Agencies:: Public Works Funding, Bureau of Public Roads (BPR)
Started:: 1936
Completed:: 1937
Quality of Information:: Very Good
Marked:: No

Description

The Ticonic bridge is a 575 Foot concrete and steel I beam structure that carries route 201 over the Kennebec River and connects Waterville and Winslow.

The bridge was one of 26 bridges that were badly damaged or destroyed by a 500 year flood in March 1936. A large piece of ice hit one of the stone piers causing two of the bridge spans to crash into the river. A state highway commission report notes that the reconstruction of these bridges were U.S. Works Program Flood Relief projects and were handled under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Public Roads, U.S. Department of Agriculture. As part of the repairs, the bridge was widened. The widened structure consisted of the addition of three river piers and three riveted steel girders in a fourspan configuration. This widening created the first
sizable roadway. The bridge was widened for a second time in 1970 with the addition of four variable depth welded steel plate girders in a five-span configuration. Maine DOT is currently seeking $40 million for additional widening and extensive reconstruction due to very bad deterioration.