HOULTON, Maine — With a few words and the snip of a ribbon on a hot, cloudless July evening 15 years ago, townspeople dedicated the Gateway Crossing bridge in Riverfront Park.
A combination of taxpayer dollars, grants and donations had generated the more than $1 million dollars needed to fund the construction of the 187-foot footbridge, which stretches from the North Street Bridge across the Meduxnekeag River.
It is designed to give walkers easy access to historic downtown Market Square and the trail along the river.
Since then, the structure and the surrounding Riverfront Park, which includes three miles of walking trails, benches, artwork, a playground and storyboards that depict the history of the town, has become a point of pride for the community.
A recent visual inspection of the bridge by an Old Town engineering and natural resource consulting company has highlighted some areas of wear on the structure.
Engineers from James W. Sewall Co. reviewed the bridge in August, according to the report, and found it “weathered, with general maintenance needed, but the visual inspection indicates that the bridge is in generally good condition.”
The report indicated that “paint chipping and rust is prevalent” throughout the handrails, but the bridge deck surface is in generally good condition, with no major issues observed. They found that the bridge deck appeared weathered, with a half inch gap between planks on the west of the deck.
Nancy Ketch, the town’s economic and community development director, said earlier this month that the town had hoped to use grant funding they had secured in 2017 to paint the railings along the bridge. But they found out that they could not use the Land and Water Conservation Fund grant money for the project because grant rules would not allow it, sending them back to the drawing board.
She said that she does not know when the job will be done, but the town is actively working on it.
“The topside of the bridge deck had bird excrement present and could cause deterioration if left untreated,” according to the study.
Addressing structural integrity, the engineers found that the abutments appeared to be in “very good condition” and the primary timber in “good condition.” There was some minor water damage on the south end of the bridge.
Engineers recommended that the bridge be cleared of animal debris, but that no action was necessary to address the gap in the bridge deck.
They further recommended that the town monitor the areas where water damage and cracking on the bridge has occurred. Addressing the rusted and chipped paint on the hand railing, they suggested repainting it after first sandblasting and removing the old paint “to ensure a good bond between the new paint and the existing surface.”
