The Maine Department of Transportation has begun replacing the bridge that connects the main section of Stonington to the small island village of Oceanville.
Starting this week, traffic over the span will be reduced to an alternating single-lane pattern that’s expected to last until November 2025, according to Maine DOT.
The replacement project, which will take more than a year, had faced pushback from some island residents who wanted to preserve the granite abutments that have held up the more than 80-year-old bridge — which they argued are emblematic of the history of stone quarrying on Stonington and Deer Isle.
But Maine DOT has said the abutments are in poor condition, with loose, shifting and missing granite blocks, as well as a noticeable bulge in one of the abutments that could be indicative of movement around the foundation. While the agency considered replacing just the upper portion of the bridge and leaving the abutments, it abandoned that concept because of high construction costs and a shorter life span than a complete replacement.
Reed & Reed, Inc. of Woolwich has a $4.4 million contract for the bridge replacement.
