Though not in danger of collapsing, Babb’s Bridge in Windham, one of few remaining wooden covered bridges in Maine, is undergoing stabilization work in a project led by the Maine Department of Transportation.
In summer 2014, the 39-year-old structure suffered from vandalism – holes appeared in the cedar shingle roof, thought to be made by swimmers – and it also was the subject of a hit-and-run accident in late January 2015.
A vehicle had dislodged a key wooden support pole on the left side of the Windham entrance, which forced the Maine Department of Transportation to close the bridge to vehicular traffic for about a month in order to make repairs.
The bridge, which is considered a well-known local landmark, spans the Presumpscot River and connects Covered Bridge Road in Windham and Hurricane Road in Gorham.
During the last few weeks, the bridge has undergone a $45,000 project to stabilize the granite block abutment on the Windham side of the state-owned structure, where some of the stones have shifted through the years.
The department has been working with Knowles Industrial Services of Gorham to pump grout into the empty spaces in the abutment to stabilize it. A crew from Knowles Industrial was at the bridge site Tuesday, mixing and applying the cement mixture. Foreman Logan Hurlbutt said the project was expected to be finished later that day or Wednesday.
Donald McKenna, a bridge maintenance engineer for Department of Transportation, said an alternate option would be to lift the entire superstructure off the abutments and restack the stone, which he estimated would cost “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
After visiting the site this week, McKenna said he was impressed with the outcome of the grout work so far, which is considered “above and beyond” what is included in the department’s 2016 work plan. Though similar grout projects have occurred at other historic bridges across the state, this is the first time for Babb’s Bridge, said McKenna.
“We want to make sure that abutment is going to stay (in tact),” he said. “Our hope is that it will be good for another 50 years.”
He added that the department is also planning to make other, less expensive repairs to the structure, such as patching the existing holes in the roof and walls with plywood in order to keep out the elements, and to prevent swimmers from jumping into the river from the bridge.
“We fixed the walls last year, they kicked holes in them. We fixed the roof, they (made) a hole and put a diving board up there. We are going to try to do it a little different than we did it last year so it will make it tougher for (swimmers) to go in there and take it back out,” McKenna said.
He added, “We want to keep snow out. We don’t want snow setting in there melting and rotting the lumber. We want to button it back up before winter.”
During a meeting last spring with a New Hampshire-based expert in covered-bridge rehabilitation and construction, Arnold Graton, transportation department officials and residents, discussed whether to replace the bridge’s cedar shingle roof with a metal roof in order to prevent future damage by local swimmers.
“He said this was the worst case of vandalism he had ever seen,” said Windham Historical Society president Linda Griffin.
McKenna told the Lakes Region Weekly this week, however, that completely replacing the roof is not a priority for the state because there are no major safety concerns.
“I would love to see that bridge be completely refurbished, but that’s not my call,” McKenna said. “We have limited amounts of money and we have to address our higher-priority roads” instead.
Nevertheless, he said, “I am always pushing to keep the covered bridges in good shape.”
If and when the old roof is replaced, said McKenna, it would likely be done with cedar shingles, since that is the preference of the state and local historical societies. After arson destroyed the bridge in 1973, it was rebuilt in 1976 as a replica of the original structure, which was erected in 1864. The restored bridge was dedicated in 1976 during the U.S. Bicentennial, according to Griffin.
“We would love the roof to have wooden shingles, but it’s vandalized all the time,” Griffin said. “People have been doing this for years and years, and it’s too bad that they don’t have more respect.”
“It’s important,” she added. “It shows a different way of life. There are only nine (covered) bridges left.”
Logan Hurlbutt, a foreman for Knowles Industrial Services in Gorham, works at Babb’s Bridge in South Windham on Tuesday.Send questions/comments to the editors.
