Contributed by Penobscot Marine Museum
Description
The only bridge to Deer Isle was opened in 1939. Until then a ferry service, begun in 1792 by Nathaniel Scott and operated by his descendants for 150 years, transported people and goods.
Paved roads and automobiles came late to the island because a busy network of steamboats connected with mainland locations. However, with steamer service declining and tourism increasing, by the 1930s the time had come to build a bridge.
Holton D. Robinson and David B. Steinman, who had built the Waldo-Hancock Bridge over the Penobscot River in 1931, designed the 1,088-foot suspension bridge over the Eggemoggin Reach.
Their challenges were numerous: wind and stability issues, substantial tides, a necessary minimum 85-foot underclearance midway across a 200-foot channel to accommodate tall masts, a required early summer completion date necessitating winter work, and a limited budget.
The project used a number of problem-solving innovations, including off-site prefabrication of the forms for the tower pedestals and cofferdams, utilization of pre-stressed twisted strand cables and new connection methods, and construction of a steep approach and shorter-than-usual vertical curve at the center to provide clearance.
The bridge, financed as a Depression-era public works project, was completed in March 1939. Vehicles paid a toll for many years.
About This Item
- Title: Deer Isle-Sedgwick Bridge construction, ca. 1938
- Creator: Eastern Illustrating and Publishing Company
- Creation Date: circa 1938
- Subject Date: circa 1938
-
Locations:
- Deer Isle, Hancock County, ME
- Sedgwick, Hancock County, ME
- Media: Glass Negative
- Dimensions: 12.75 cm x 17.75 cm
- Local Code: LB2007.1.106490
- Collection: Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co.
- Object Type: Image
Cross Reference Searches
Standardized Subject Headings
- Eastern Illustrating and Publishing Company
- Postcards--Maine
- Photographs--Maine
- Bridges--Maine--Deer Isle
- Bridges--Maine--Sedgwick
- Bridge construction--Maine
For more information about this item, contact:
Penobscot Marine MuseumPO Box 498, 5 Church Street, Searsport, ME 04974
(207) 548-2529
Website
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. No Permission is required to use the low-resolution watermarked image for educational use, or as allowed by the applicable copyright. For all other uses, permission is required.
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