New B Stream bridge essential to snowmobile-dependant businesses

by Staff Pioneer Times
12 years ago

By Theron Larkins
Special to the Pioneer Times
HOULTON, Maine — Town officials have recently applied for the 2014 Recreational Trail Grant from the state for funding to help construct a motorized vehicle bridge across B Stream.    The new bridge will serve as a replacement for a previous bridge that was washed away in flooding that occurred in 2010. If approved, the span will be a multi-use crossing for snowmobiles and pedestrians to include cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, biking and walking.
If constructed the new B Stream bridge will be strategically placed in order to not only save snowmobilers time and effort, but will also direct them through an area on U.S. Route 1 that will make local businesses much more easily accessible.
“It’s a pretty critical bridge to have. Without it snowmobilers are rerouted 10 miles to travel about 200 feet” said Community Development Director Lori Weston. “In that, they’re bypassing all of the businesses located on Route 1.”
With snowmobiling playing a large role in tourism for the area this 10-mile diversion is likely proving to be harmful for local business owners, who would otherwise service many of these travelers.
“They’re not stopping to get gas. They can’t eat. They can’t go into Mardens, or perhaps the grocery store,” continued Weston. “We tried to apply for it a year ago, but we had to receive a lot of licenses and approvals before even being able to apply. So, it’s a pretty big deal that we’ve finally applied.”
The proposed bridge will have a clear span of 97 feet with ramps that total another 100 feet for a total structural length of approximately 200 feet. The trail will only be rerouted for a short distance to get the new bridge onto private land and not within the Interstate 95 right-of-way, like the previous bridge.
The new structure will be called a “bar joist” bridge. This type of span has been successfully built in Limestone, Chapman, Island Falls and Windham over the past five years for similar purposes.