Frequently Asked Questions
Why did we restore this bridge?
To restore this historic Brunswick-Topsham Swinging Bridge and protect a valuable historic asset in the community.
To improve and promote access to the bridge with civic improvements in both Brunswick and Topsham.
To facilitate pedestrian and bicycle movement between the towns by improving the safety of the bridge.
To allow Topsham and Brunswick residents to use the bridge to travel (by bicycle, running or walking) the loop of trails and sidewalks for health or transportation.
To provide access to the river views which are an important part of the gateway to Midcoast Maine.
To recognize the valuable link between towns the bridge has provided for over 100 years
To recognize the significance of a local engineering project designed by the firm of John A. Roebling’s Sons Company (designers/builders of the Brooklyn Bridge)
Who are the people and organizations who have worked on this project?
Swinging Bridge Fund Committee
Brunswick Rotary Club
Rotary Club of Topsham Expresso
Maine Department of Transportation
Town of Brunswick
Town of Topsham
Midcoast Council for Planning and Development
What does it cost and what is the source of the funding?
Total estimated cost: $364,000 ($610,000) by finish of project. Eighty percent from Federal Enhancement Grant and 20 percent locally fundraised money.
$228,000 in Federal Transportation Enhancement funds
$76,000 in bonds from the State of Maine
Capital Campaign: $150,000 from the communities of Brunswick and Topsham, to be raised entirely from private sector.
10/01/04 Cost estimates provided by engineers have raised the expected project costs to $520,000. >
How long have people been working on this project?
1999: Brunswick & Topsham commissioned a study of the feasibility to restore the bridge.
2000: Brunswick & Topsham Engineering Study Report of the Androscoggin Pedestrian Bridge completed
April 2002: Joint committee formed to explore restoration and funding
August 2002: Committee submits report to Towns
April 2003: Project receives $304,000 from Federal Enhancement Grant Funds through Maine Department of Transportation
As the price was adjusted upwards the committee raised more money and the Maine Department of Transportation allocated more funds. The total raised was over $610,000.
What is the estimated completion date for the project?
May 2003: Leadership fundraising campaign starts
May 2003: Community Capital Campaign starts
Spring 2005: Estimated restoration work begins Revised Dates
November 2005: Estimated completion and opening to the public. Revised Dates
December 2006: Open to the public
Summer 2007: Park-like entrances will be completed
September 8, 2008 Grand Re-opening and Dedication
Are donations tax deductible?
Donations to the Swinging Bridge Fund are tax deductible.
Our Federal Tax Identification Number is 010526767
Please make checks payable to: Swinging Bridge Fund
Our mailing address is:
Swinging Bridge Fund
P.O. Box 281
Brunswick, ME 04011
History of the Swinging Bridge
The Topsham Land Company (Frank P. Weatherill, Amos O. Reed, George A.
Stover, and Charles E. Hacker), developers of Topsham Heights, contracted with
the John A. Roebling Sons’ Co. in 1891 to build a footbridge across the Androscoggin
River so residents of their new development could easily get to work at
the Cabot cotton mill in Brunswick. The footbridge was more direct and safer
than either of the two existing vehicle bridges.
The developers thought the bridge would add enough value to their lots for it
to be a worthwhile investment, but by 1906, one of them testified that the investment
had not been a profitable one.
The Cabot Manufacturing Co. in March 1892 granted an easement that allowed
the bridge to connect on the Brunswick side and for people to cross
Cabot land getting off the bridge. Work began May 19, 1892. Three houses
were being built on the Heights at this point.
By September 1892 the structure and the painting was completed at the end
of October. Construction costs totaled about $2,000.
However, the developers never promised to maintain the bridge, and had
always intended that when it became a common convenience and necessity, it
would be accepted as a public highway. That designation was not made without
some controversy, but was done in 1906, giving the two towns maintenance
responsibility.
Between 1913 and 1916, work performed on the bridge included the major
task of replacing the wood towers with steel ones. The 1916 Topsham Annual
report notes a payment to Megquier & Jones, a South Portland steel fabrication
company that may have replaced the towers.
The bridge was heavily damaged in the 1936 spring flood. The deck was destroyed,
but the towers and the original suspension cables survived. The federal
Works Progress Administration helped replace the span and resurfaced the piers
that the towers stand on with concrete.
By the turn of the 21st century, rust covered the towers, handrails, and cables
of the bridge. A 2000 study found the bridge’s twin 30-foot steel towers to be
solid, but revealed that the steel cables attached to them were loose, corroded
and broken. Concrete abutments on both ends of the bridge were cracked and
wooden planks were rotted. Without repairs the bridge was not expected to last
beyond 2010. It was in such poor condition that it was limited to 20 pedestrians
at one time.
In light of the bridge’s deteriorating condition, the two towns in 2002 appointed
a committee of residents of their communities to study the bridge’s history
and explore the feasibility of raising private funds and grants to repair the
structure. That group helped secure Department of Transportation and private
funds to restore the structure.
Built to accommodate mill workers from a new housing development, the
bridge has served many thousands of people of all ages who have used it to walk
back and forth to school, to church, to entertainments, to visit family and friends,
to shop, and for many other purposes, including recreation. It has become an integral
part of the two communities and well as a popular stopping point for people driving along Route 1 who want a scenic view of the Androscoggin River.
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Save Our Swinging Bridge.Org |
Phone: 207-729-3600 |