PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire — Hundreds of Seacoast residents stopped by Albacore Park Saturday to sign a concrete bridge segment that will be placed on the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge next week.
“It’s nice to know that someday, when we’re long gone, they’ll take this bridge down and be able to see all our names,” said Bonnie Baron of Kittery, who came to sign with her husband Bob.
The 77-year-old bridge, which connected Portsmouth and Kittery, closed to vehicular traffic in August 2016, two months earlier than planned, following a major mechanical failure. The new bridge is scheduled to open in October, according to Ron Taylor, resident engineer for the Maine Department of Transportation.
Taylor said the bridge segment signed Saturday weighs 80 to 100 tons, and it will be the seventh segment installed counting from the Portsmouth side of the bridge.
The next major milestone in the $160 million project will take place in August, when the bridge’s center lift span is installed. Navigation in that area of the Piscataqua River will be closed for about a week during the installation. The Department of Transportation says the new bridge’s design will improve navigation and require 68 percent fewer bridge openings.
Joe and Kathy Famularo of Portsmouth signed the bridge to celebrate their wedding anniversary, writing: “Joe & Kathy Famularo, in love for 42 years.”
Publisher Peter Randall said he had a special reason to participate in the signing ceremony. In 1988, he published “The Sarah Mildred Long Bridge: A History of The Maine-New Hampshire Interstate Bridge from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Kittery, Maine,” by Woodard Openo.
Ken Herrick, president of the Portsmouth Submarine Memorial Association, said the Department of Transportation, which is overseeing the bridge construction, has been “very pleasant” and considerate of the USS Albacore Visitors Center and Museum. He said the signing ceremony was bringing many first-time visitors to the park and that was good for business. Herrick planned to sign the bridge segment later in the day with his 8-year-old granddaughter Abby.
Patrick “Brass” Lavoie, owner of Port City Barbers, summed up why so many came to sign on a beautiful Saturday. “I just want to be a part of history.”
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