A two-lane bridge linking Wiscasset and Woolwich on Old Stage Road will soon be posted by the state at 25 tons. Mike Burns, regional manager with the Maine Department of Transportation, told Woolwich and Wiscasset officials Jan. 11 that a recent inspection led engineers to recommend imposing the weight limit.

“They found a good deal more rust and corrosion on the steel support beams than what they expected,” he said, adding that winter salting likely hastened the deterioration.

The bridge’s wooden decking does not prevent salt from seeping down onto the steel substructure. Burns noted MDOT routinely conducts bridge inspections every two years. He said there’s currently no weight limit on the small two-lane bridge but added since the bridge was built, a new “standard on weighting” has been adopted.

MDOT’s December traffic survey revealed a fairly low number of motorists using the bridge on a daily basis. “Because it’s a low-volume road it doesn’t hit the top of our list as far as replacement,” Burns continued, saying that likely wouldn’t happen until 2020. Officials from both towns were relieved to hear the state was assuming the cost of replacing the bridge.

“What you saw in December is nothing compared to the traffic that goes over it during the summer,” Woolwich Road Commissioner Jack Shaw commented.

“It serves as our de facto bypass during the summer,” added Woolwich Selectmen’s Chairman David King Sr.

Posting the bridge to 25 tons means tractor-trailers and heavily laden trucks will have to take Mountain Road. Burns said construction trucks may be able to continue crossing the bridge empty but not loaded. Fire trucks and other emergency vehicles are under the weight limit, as are school buses.

MDOT Regional Traffic Engineer David Allen said along with posting the bridge, the state will erect warning signs notifying motorists of the bridge weight limit at the Bath Road-Old Stage Road intersection in Wiscasset and in Woolwich.

Burns added in the near future the state would be looking at installing guard railing at the approach to the bridge on the Wiscasset side. The posting of the weight limit will take place in a month or two.

The small two-lane bridge spans Montsweag Brook and serves as a Woolwich-Wiscasset town line. In 1991, Wiscasset raised $100,000 and paid for the bridge’s construction. The bridge was built by Woolwich contractor Jack Shaw & Sons and designed by Tom Eaton, who was then Wiscasset’s town engineer. 

All five Woolwich selectmen attended the Jan. 11 meeting along with Woolwich Fire Chief Mike Demers. Representing Wiscasset were Town Manager Marian Anderson, Police Chief Jeffrey Lange, Fire Chief T.J. Merry, Road Commissioner Doug Fowler and EMS Director Toby Martin.