Androscoggin River Railroad Bridge

Facts 

Overview

Through truss bridge over Androscoggin River on MCRR in Brunswick

Location

Brunswick, Cumberland County, Maine

Status

Open to traffic

History

Built 1909; rehabilitated 1987

Builder

- Pennsylvania Bridge Co.

Design

318' length, 2-span riveted Baltimore truss with suspended lower roadway. Lower deck is attached by pin-connected eyebars below the bottom chords of the trusses. North approach span is original. South approach is a steel girder thru span added when Rte. 1 was widened to four lanes in 1957. Ashlar coursed piers and abutments, wooden decks and deck railings.

Part of building/structure is in Topsham, Sagadahoc County, ME.

Significance: Only identified example of an unusual double-deck railroad and suspended vehicular bridge in the state, and a fine example of a rivet-connected Baltimore thru truss design. It is one of only four 1890-1928 Baltimore truss bridges identified in a recent state bridge survey. It was built in 1909 to replace an 1880 double-deck bridge, and illustrates the evolution of the truss type into a heavily-built structure capable of supporting increased locomotive weights. It carries a minor branch of the Maine Central, today used for local traffic, and is an alternate route to a larger road bridge downstream for road travel between Brunswick and Topsham.

Katherine Larson Farnham, HAER, November 1999
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Dimensions

Length of largest span: 200.1 ft.
Total length: 317.9 ft.
Deck width: 12.5 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 10.7 ft.

Recognition

Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places

Also called

Free-Black Bridge

Inventory numbers

ME 0323 (Maine bridge number)
BH 19827 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Inspection (as of 01/2008)

Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 8.3 (out of 100)

Average daily traffic (as of 2007)

1,950

Categories 

Update Log 

• November 16, 2008: New photo from J.R. Manning

Sources 

• J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net

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