As many citizens of Portsmouth, New Hampshire already know, the Sarah-Mildred Long bridge that connects downtown Portsmouth to Kittery, Maine, has been under ‘replacement construction’ since January of 2015. The actual design process of the new SML bridge began back in 2013 and has been a joint venture between the state of Maine and the state of New Hampshire’s Department of Transportation, with the Maine D.O.T. taking the majority of control over the project.

The new SML bridge project is moving forward on schedule and is supposedly going to be open to traffic by September of 2017, but the entire process will not be done until June of 2018. The old SML bridge was the number one red-listed bridge in the Granite State and was 76 years old by the time it closed. This bridge is an important part of the “three-bridge agreement” between Maine and New Hampshire to address their jointly owned bridges that span across the strong currents of the Piscataqua River. The other two bridges are known as the high-level Piscataqua bridge, which carries I-95 into Portsmouth from Maine and the newly replaced Memorial bridge that links the communities of Kittery and Portsmouth together while also offering bike and pedestrian travel.

“Normally I would take the Sarah Long bridge every morning to get to work without any traffic into the side of town where my work is located. Since the bridge has been closed for construction, I am forced to drive to the Memorial bridge and then drive through town in order to get to the end of town where I work. That’s not even the problem,” stated a local who commutes from Kittery to Portsmouth. She added, “The problem is that on 4 different occasions now, the bridge has gone up on my way to work and I’ve been stuck on the other side of the bridge for 15-25 minutes while a boat passes through…at 6:30 in the morning!” Any closed bridge will have its inconveniences, but it’s a known fact that the people of Portsmouth and Kittery are more than ready for the new SML bridge.

As of March 6th, two of the six massive steel beams that will make up the center span of the new Sarah Mildred Long bridge were floated in by a huge boat, known as a ‘barge’, on the Piscataqua River onto the bridges construction site. The boat and it’s crew came all the way from Winslow Marine in Rockland, Maine. “The actual assembly of the 300-foot center span of the bridge will begin as soon as all of the six steel beams arrive on the site within the next couple weeks,” said Ron Taylor, resident engineer for the SML project. Those six steel center beams for the new bridge weigh over 2.5 million pounds all on their own. The assembly of those center beams will take place on an anchored boat and will be floated  into place upon completion.

The cost of the new bridge comes in at around $150 million, which more than doubles the cost of replacing the Memorial bridge a couple years ago. The new SML bridge’s design, however, is worth the price according to the Maine D.O.T. It’s unique design is the only bridge like it’s kind in the entire country. The center of the bridge will rise up for boats to pass through and will also have the ability to drop down and connect a railroad track underneath that will carry across the Piscataqua.

The people of downtown Portsmouth, and the Portsmouth area in general, are used to dealing with bridges being closed for replacement. It seems as if a new bridge is being built at least once a year. The downsides of the SML bridge being under construction have been affecting many small businesses in the downtown area due to the inconvenience it has caused for people to travel to and from Portsmouth over the bridge. “Winter months are already slow as it is, especially since we’re new. I actually live right downtown and I’m glad the SML is finally being replaced, but I believe it might have slowed down business a bit. The good news is, summer is right around the corner,” local business owner of The Goods in downtown Portsmouth stated. Since most all business downtown rely on tourism, it makes sense that any closing of the three bridges can hurt them directly. Although the Memorial bridge and the Piscataqua bridge are fairly close-by, a lot people would rather skip the longer trip unless of course, they have no choice.

All three of the bridges that span across the Piscataqua are there for very specific and important reasons. Some of those reasons being directly related to supporting the downtown area and all of the local businesses. The bridges help easily link nearby towns into Portsmouth, making one big, special community like no other. All we can do is hope the new SML bridge continues to be built smoothly and on schedule and hopefully it will be back in business by next fall.

For more pictures of the bridges construction process, visit the link below: https://app.oxblue.com/open/cianbro/SMLBRptz