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Bay Bridge

Cumberland County, Maine

Photos 

Ruins of the Bay Bridge

Photo taken by Taoab

View this photo at panoramio.com

BH Photo #263171

Map 

Description 

The Merrymeeting Bay Bridge was constructed in 1835, a crudely engineered, wooden span over the Androscoggin River between Topsham and East Brunswick. For more than 60 years, the half-mile long toll bridge served as a short cut between upper and lower Sagadahoc County, as a link between the agricultural upper towns and the expanding city of Bath.

The bridge was 2,700 feet in length, with a wooden deck 24-feet wide. It was supported first on wooden pilings set 20 feet apart in the shifting river sands; then, when ice and currents became a problem, rocks were added around the pilings to protect them. Still later, improvements projects on the bridge led to replacement of the wooden pilings with granite block supports.

Some of this old stone work is still visible from the Bay Bridge Road off Topsham Fore side, and from the Bay Bridge Road on the Brunswick side, near the Harry C. Crooker and Sons construction firm. The bridge extended from Crooker's shore to Mustard's Island, then across the island and a short stretch of the Androscoggin to Topsham.

Facts 

Overview
Lost wooden bridge over Androscoggin River on Bay Bridge Road
Location
Brunswick, Cumberland County, Maine
Status
Destroyed by flood in 1896; Ruins remain
History
Built 1836; One span lost to ice 1875 then replaced 1878; Lost to flood 1896
Builder
- Martin Hall (contractor)
Dimensions
Total length: 2,700.0 ft. (0.5 mi.)
Deck width: 24.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+43.93635, -69.89163   (decimal degrees)
43°56'11" N, 69°53'30" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
19/428437/4865190 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Brunswick
Inventory number
BH 57638 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (7,626)
Brunswick, Maine (9)
Built 1836 (12)
Built during 1830s (199)
Cumberland County, Maine (81)
Destroyed by flood (478)
Lost (24,968)
 Lost 1896 (17)
Lost during 1890s (157)
Maine (706)
Martin Hall (1)
Total length over 2500 feet (916)
Wooden deck (6,073)

Update Log 

  • August 16, 2013: Updated by Dave King: Added dates, measurements, link & description

Sources 

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Comments 

Bay Bridge
Posted February 6, 2014, by a.noonie mis tip

Pedestrian bridge nearby. looks new,but was renovated in 2012.

Oh,also it's on a rail-trail,if that is any help.