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Androscoggin Swinging Bridge
Save Our Swinging Bridge.Org

#LoveOurSwingingBridge

8/27/2020

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For this week’s blog post, we want to hear from you!

The Androscoggin Swinging Bridge is our most cherished places in Maine, and with your help, we’ve been able to restore, maintain, and enjoy it through the years. Now, we want to hear what you love about the bridge! This week, we want you to take to social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, whatever you use: and make a short video, take a picture, or write a short anecdote, sharing what it is about the Swinging Bridge that holds a special place in your heart. Once you’ve finished, post it and tag it #LoveOurSwinging Bridge. Here’s SOSB co-founder Nancy Randolph, sharing her love for the Swinging Bridge.
And while you’re here, make sure to register for our Virtual 5K run and 2K walk, or simply donate to help us reach our goal!

Don't forget to tag your post #LoveOurSwingingBridge when you make your video, photo, or story about your love for the Androscoggin Swinging Bridge.

However you show your love for the bridge, we thank you, because we can’t do this without your help.

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Register for 5K&2K
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What's So Great About a Virtual 5K, Anyway?

8/20/2020

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It was, admittedly, not an easy decision to choose to hold our annual fundraiser as a virtual 5K & 2K this year. We considered a number of options, including postponing it until life resumes a sort of normalcy, but what it comes down to is that the gathering situation doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon, and the Swinging Bridge still needs our support, so our solution of holding the fundraiser in the safest way possible ended up being an effective compromise. And while doing it this way might seem limiting in some respects, this week, we’re going to be exploring the opportunities of doing a 5K in this new way. If you’re not familiar with what a virtual 5K is or how to participate this year, check out our previous blog post on how we’re handling the event this year!
The first, and probably most obvious opportunity of this event, is that more people are able to participate. Usually, our annual 5K run and 2K walk are held on a single date at the Androscoggin Riverwalk, this year’s event will be held across an entire week. Any time from September 5th to noon on the 13th, you’re free to complete your 5K run or 2K walk at your leisure, at your own pace and at your own time. If getting your family in on the event has been difficult in the past, with each of you moving at a different pace and not necessarily being able to keep up with the pack, you’re now much more free to set your own pace as you navigate your chosen path. You can even run it with your pets!
You’re even free to do it at your own location! Since this year’s walk and run are not restricted to the use of the Riverwalk path, you can run your course wherever you’d like. This gives you the opportunity to bust out a map and explore your local area, finding places to run where you haven’t before. Get outside your comfort zone, find some new places!
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And since you’re doing this run solo, you’ve got the opportunity to wear whatever outfit you’d like! Got a favorite running outfit you don’t usually get to wear? Got a shirt hanging in your closet you’ve been waiting for an excuse to put on? Or are you just really fond of superheroes and you’ve been looking for a reason to wear your favorite Captain America shirt outdoors? Well now’s your chance, because among plenty of other things, we’re giving out prizes for funniest and most unusual running outfits!
What it comes down to, ultimately, is accessibility. Even those who volunteered in previous years, now have the opportunity to do a run themselves. Even SOSB founder Nancy E. Randolph is getting in on it! Previous years doing 5K runs and 2K walks have done so much to foster a sense of community and togetherness among those of us coming together to help support our favorite Maine landmark, and without that, and all of you, we wouldn’t be able to do something like this.
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But though this year we have to do our parts separately, circumstance has afforded us opportunities to do things differently, doing things in ways we couldn’t before. And whether you’re running, contributing, donating, we’d like to thank you again for all your help.
How to Run a Virtual 5K
Register for the Virtual 5K
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How You Help Us Repair The Swinging Bridge

8/14/2020

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Last week’s blog post was centered around the history of the Swinging Bridge and the formation of the group that preserves it to this day. This week, we’re focusing on the present- specifically, what goes into the upkeep of the bridge.

The Androscoggin Swinging Bridge is inspected for wear and damage every five years, and this year will be receiving another--one slightly overdue, in fact, but we’re a year or two behind. So we’re sharing with you a little peek behind the curtain, going into how the bridge is inspected, how it’s repaired, and how your donations make it happen.
The most recent inspection of the bridge was carried out in 2013. During a typical inspection, the bridge is inspected from top to bottom for damage, corrosion, support failings, cosmetic damage, and anything else that requires repairs. It starts in the towers and abutments, which typically see minor coating damage and scratches, and the bolts, brackets, rivets, and clamps are looked over for signs of deterioration. Cables and restraints are checked for breakage and concrete inspected for damage. Tower anchors are examined for failure, and one needed replacing in 2013. At that time, the clamps holding the cable on one side were not installed correctly. This was fixed.
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Incorrectly installed clamps.
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Correct cable lay.
After the towers, abutments, and cables are inspected, the engineer’s eye is turned to the span, where pins, bolts, and welds are checked for looseness or missing pieces. Coating damage is noted, cables are checked for deterioration, wood is checked for loose or rotting pieces, and supports, brackets, beams, and bracing are checked. The span itself is checked for alignment as well.
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A corroded anchor on the Brunswick side.
And when it comes time for the repairs, that’s where your donations come in. Those repairs and maintenance end up costing a not-insubstantial amount of money, and it can cost anywhere between $20,000 and $40,000 to keep the bridge in shape. Your donations and your contributions are what pay for that maintenance, and this year we’re finding ourselves about $5,000 short, so this year the success of our fundraisers matters more than ever.
So if you haven’t yet, make sure to register for our virtual 5K run and 2K walk, contribute to have a brick in the bridge’s parks dedicated with a name of your choice, or simply donate! It’s your help that keeps our bridge swinging into the future, and we can’t do this without you.
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The History of the Swinging Bridge

8/7/2020

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For this week’s blog, we’ve decided to shift focus a bit. Last week, we discussed the ins and outs of running a virtual 5k and how we’re handling ours this year. Today, we’d like to share the history behind why we do these runs in the first place--the Androscoggin Swinging Bridge itself.

It was in 1891 that the Topsham Land Company decided that a footbridge across the Androscoggin River would be a safer, more direct route for workers traveling to Brunswick’s Cabot cotton mill rather than the two existing vehicle bridges. Thinking that the bridge would add enough value to their lots for it to be a worthwhile investment, they contracted with the John A. Roebling Sons Co, who’d designed the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, to build it. Once the Cabot Manufacturing Co. granted an easement that allowed the bridge to connect on the Brunswick side, construction began May 19, 1892.
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Completed in September of that year, the final construction costs tallied up to about $2,000, which, adjusted for inflation, would be about $56,700. The Topsham Land Company had intended for the bridge to be accepted as a public highway when the bridge became a common necessity and hadn’t promised to maintain it.
In 1906, the Androscoggin Swinging Bridge was given the designation, and Brunswick and Topsham became jointly responsible for bridge maintenance. Between 1913 and 1916, the bridge’s timber-framed towers were replaced with steel, possibly by South Portland steel fabrication company Mequier & Jones.
Disaster would strike in 1936 when a flood destroyed the bridge’s superstructure, sweeping away the entire deck and rendering it completely unusable. However, the steel towers and original suspension cables survived. The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) got to work replacing the span and resurfacing the bases of the towers with new concrete in 1938.
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 This would be the last significant repair the bridge would receive until the turn of the century. In 2000, a study found the bridge in a distressing state of disrepair--concrete abutments cracked, wood planks rotted, and rust covering every metal component.

With pedestrian traffic limited to twenty people and the bridge not expected to survive into 2010, Brunswick and Topsham came together to appoint a committee of residents of both towns to attempt to accrue funds and restore the bridge to a usable state. Securing finances from the Department of Transportation as well as private funds, the group oversaw renovation and restoration of the swinging bridge, reopening it to the public 2006.

Though nearly every one of the bridge’s components had been replaced by this point, from the handrails to the boards to the beams, the original “ Roebling wire rope” cables built into the structure in 1892 still span the bridge to this day. The next year saw the opening of public parks on either end of the bridge. On September 8, 2007, a reopening and dedication ceremony saw the attendance of two of John A. Roebling’s great-great-great granddaughters.

In January of 2004, the Androscoggin Swinging Bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In May 2011, the bridge was dedicated as a Maine Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the Maine Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The Androscoggin Swinging Bridge now sits at the heart of the Androscoggin Riverwalk, enjoying routine foot traffic from locals and tourists alike. We’ve made it our task to maintain and care for it so the bridge can continue to receive visitors for many years to come. Your participation in our annual 5k runs and 2k walks, as well as your donations for engraved bricks and your contributions throughout the year, help us achieve our goals and keep the bridge safe and usable for everyone. If you’d like to contribute this year, be sure to register for this year’s virtual 5k or make a donation to have a brick in the base of the bridge engraved with your chosen inscription. Your help is what keeps our bridge swinging far into the future.
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OUR ADDRESS

Save Our Swinging Bridge.Org
PO Box 353
​Topsham, ME 04086

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http://www.SaveOurBridge.com

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Phone: 207-837-6188 
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