In 1931, the state built the Barters Island bridge over Back River. It was a 110-foot-long span, called a "steel pony truss swing bridge," connecting the island to the mainland. It was more than just unique.

When a boat wanted to slide through the passage, a bridge tender would walk out of his shack, lower the gates on both ends and walk to one side. Then the tender would pick up this long Allen-style wrench and stick one end in an opening in the center. The tender would grab the end and walk around in a circle swiveling a set of clanking gears and opening the bridge.

Once the boat cleared the passage, Mr./Ms. The Bridge tender would reverse course to close it. Once the tender lifted the traffic gates, motor traffic could drive to the island. Easily done.

The old human-powered bridge was so unique it was featured in some movies. Once CBS TV newsman Harry Smith came up to take a look at it. And he gave the CBS viewers a laugh when he operated it himself.

Over the years, the old steel bridge got a bit long in the tooth. State DOT officials signaled a replacement. They budgeted $8.2 million and set Reed & Reed to work on building a new one. It began in June 2019 and opened on Aug. 2, 2021. It took longer than planned because of the pandemic.

Since it opened, the new bridge has had problems, serious problems. It opens OK, but sometimes it gets stuck when you try to close it, said Dan Bryer, the Boothbay town manager.

Of course, if you are unable to close the $8.2 million Barters Island bridge, it could pose a problem for the folks who want to leave the island and for those who might want to visit it. And, Barters Islanders might need a fire truck or an ambulance, or maybe want to leave the island for a bucket of ice cream to go on the fresh blueberry pie that just came out of the oven.

If you had to sit on the wrong side of the open bridge for a while, the ice cream might not do very well. You get the idea.

Recently, some island residents raised a stink. Robin Jordan and other island residents complained to Bryer. As Boothbay Register reporter Bill Pearson reported last week, the town manager then called an electronic huddle with state and federal officials.

Because the Coast Guard has jurisdiction over navigable waters, Bryer and DOT officials asked if they could close the bridge until they figured out what was wrong and how to fix it.

Ryan Smith, Boothbay Harbor’s new Coast Guard chief, passed the buck up the chain of command where it landed in New York. On July 15, they gave the state DOT permission to shut the bridge from July 16 to 29 so engineers and bureaucrats could figure out how to fix it.

“We are certainly not happy it is not working so well,” said Paul Merrill, a state DOT spokesman.

Evelyn Shahan, the longtime president of Barters Island Association, said the new bridge is great, but she admits that every so often it gets stuck and that is a problem.

She said most islanders are tough and used to adversity. There is no sense in getting excited. “We are willing to live with it. It is not that we like it, but what can you do about it,” she said.

Dan Bryer said the ball is now in the hands of the DOT and the bridge builders. Although the Coast Guard said they could close it for two weeks, that order could be extended, he said. But Bryer suggested there is another lesson to be learned from the Barters Island bridge fiasco.

The state DOT is talking about replacing the Southport Island bridge. And he urged Southporters to be careful when they talk to the DOT. That makes sense. If the DOT took three years and $8.2 million to replace the simple little hand-operated Barters Island drawbridge and it is already on the fritz, what might bedevil a bigger and more complex job?

We all know DOT maintenance crews work on the Southport Island bridge on a regular basis. And it seems it is getting towards the end of its useful life.

Across the Damariscotta River, we watched as our South Bristol neighbors spent years arguing over the design of a new span to cross The Gut. Brunswick townsfolk are currently worked up over another planned bridge replacement. Not long ago, our citizens got into a civic swivet over the redesign of a highway intersection.

We may be in for a long, contentious process when the state decides to replace the Southport bridge.