Waldo–Hancock Bridge: Difference between revisions

|carries = {{jct|state=ME|US|1}} and {{jct|state=ME|ME|3}}

|height = 72 {{Convert|236|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}

|extra = {{Infobox NRHP

| location = {{jct|state=ME|US|1}} and {{jct|state=ME|ME|3}},<br/>[[Verona, Maine]]

The '''Waldo–Hancock Bridge''' was the first long-span [[suspension bridge]] erected in [[Maine]], as well as the first permanent bridge across the [[Penobscot River]] belowdownstream from [[Bangor, Maine|Bangor]]. The name comes from connecting [[Waldo County, Maine|Waldo]] and [[Hancock County, Maine|Hancock]] counties. The bridge was built in 1931 and retired in 2006, when the new [[Penobscot Narrows Bridge]] was opened just a few yards away, and it was demolished in 2013.

The bridge was {{convert|2040|ft|m|1}} long with a clear [[Span (architecture)|center span]] of {{convert|800|ft|m|1}} between towers. It had two {{convert|350|ft|adj=on|1}} side spans and carriescarried a {{convert|20|ft|m|1|adj=on}} wide [[roadway]] with two {{convert|3+1/2|ft|m|1|adj=on}} [[sidewalk]]s. It used stiffening [[truss]]es that are {{convert|9|ft|m|1}} deep. Each of the main suspendercatenary [[wire rope|cable]]s were {{convert|9+5/8|in|cm|1}} in diameter, and consisted of 37 strands of 37 wires. The [[Deck (bridge)|deck]] was {{convert|135|ft|m|1}} above water level to allow passage of large ships. The total cost of the span was less than $850,000 in 1931 dollars (about $12 million in 2010 dollars), significantly under its allocated budget.

[[File:Waldo-Hancock Bridge Dedication Plaque 1931.jpg|thumb|left|Dedication plaque, 1931]][[File:Waldo Hancock Bridge Toll Ticket Books 1935.jpg|thumb|left|Toll ticket books, c1935]]Technologically, the Waldo–Hancock Bridge represented a number of firsts. It was one of the first two bridges in the U.S. (along with the [[St. Johns Bridge]] in [[Portland, Oregon]], completed in June, 1931) to employ Robinson and Steinman's prestressed twisted wire strand cables, which were first used on the 1929 [[Grand Mère Suspension Bridge]] over the [[Saint-Maurice River]] in Quebec. The prefabrication and prestressing of the cables decreased the number of field adjustments required, saving considerable time, effort, and money. As an additional experiment in efficiency, the Waldo–Hancock cables were marked prior to construction, ensuring proper setting. This method had never been used before and proved successful in this instance. These innovations, invented and pioneered by Steinman, were a significant step forward for builders of suspension bridges.

The Waldo–Hancock was also the first bridge to make use of the [[Truss#Vierendeel truss|Vierendeel truss]] in its two towers, giving it an effect that Steinman called "artistic, emphasizing horizontal and vertical lines." This attractive and effective truss design was later used in a number of important bridges, including the [[Triborough Bridge]] and [[Golden Gate Bridge]].<ref name="Farnham">{{cite web| |last =Farnham Larson Farnham| first = Katherine| yearLarson |date=1999 1999| url = httphttps://lcweb2tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/me/me0300/me0313/data/me0313data.pdf | title = Waldo–Hancock Bridge | work = Historic American Engineering Record | pages page=1 1| publisher = Library of Congress | accessdate access-date=November May 18, 20062020}}</ref>

==Rehabilitation, replacement, and abandonmentretirement==

As the bridge approached its seventieth anniversary with the end of the century, a series of routine safety inspections made by the Maine Department of Transportation revealed that over those seven decades the structure's two main suspension cables and the many vertical bridge deck stringers had become seriously corroded, thereby deteriorating their ability to support the deck, roadway and the traffic that crossed it. These engineering studies made it clear that the bridge required immediate major rehabilitation and eventual replacement.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.waldohancockbridge.com/waldo-county-bridge/hisfacts.php | title = History | work = Waldo–Hancock Bridge Replacement Project | publisher =Maine Department of transportation | accessdate access-date= May 1, 2006}}</ref>

Work was undertaken to rehabilitate the bridge starting in 2000<ref>{{citeStructurae web| url id=20001116 http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0001116| title = Waldo–HancockWaldo-Hancock Bridge| publisher = [[Structurae]]| accessdate access-date=November May 18, 20062020}}</ref> by [[Cianbro]] and Piasecki Steel Construction Corp. with cable work by Williamsport Wirerope Works Inc., by focusing on strengthening the cables. The two cables were done separately, one a time. Piasecki Steel Construction Corp., of Castleton, N.Y.New York, rehabilitated the north cable in 2002. At this point the bridge was discovered to be beyond permanent repair and would have to be abandoned and replaced by a new structure to be built adjacent to the aging bridge.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.bridgemeister.com/pic.php?pid=172 | title = Waldo–Hancock Suspension Bridge | publisher = Bridgemeister.com | accessdate access-date= May 1, 2006}}</ref> Work then shifted to temporary strengthening. For the south cable, MDOT in August 2003 hired Pittsfield, Maine-based Cianbro Corp. under a $4-million emergency contract.

The rehabilitation used a single wire thickness ({{convert|2|in|cm|1|adj=onmid|-diameter}} diameter galvanized helical 91-wire strands.) to facilitate fabricating and installing the cables more quickly. New concrete anchorages with up to {{convert|30|ft|m|1|adj=onmid|-long}} long anchor rods were built by Cianbro. Crews installed continuous runs of strands on new saddles bolted and welded on new base plates atop cable bents and the main towers. Workers placed two groups of four strands {{convert|12|ft|m|1}} above each main cable to allow for pulls. Each strand weighs 4 tons (3.6 metric tons). A rope pull was walked across, connected to a {{convert|7/8|in|cm|1|adj=onmid|-diameter}} pull cable, then winched back across and connected to the strand, which was fed through a tensioner holding back about {{convert|15000|lb|kg|-3}} to smooth the pull.

"We hooked and rehooked one strand per day on average," says Archie J. Wheaton, Cianbro project superintendent. "The strands were connected to anchor rods; then we set the sag." The new auxiliary cables are connected to existing double suspender cables by {{convert|1+1/8|in|cm|1|adj=mid|-diameter}} steel rods, then tensioned with 30-ton (27.2 metric ton) jacks, bringing the new cables about {{convert|3|ft|m|0}} from the main cables.<ref>{{cite web| |last =Angelo Angelo| first = William J. | year date= 2003 | url = http://enr.construction.com/news/transportation/archives/031110a.asp | title = Maine Cables Get Extra Support in Rare Procedure | publisher = ENR.com Engineering News Record | accessdate access-date=May 1, 2006}}</ref>

The Maine Department of Transportation announced on February 14, 2012, that the Bridgebridge would be demolished starting that summer and be completed by the fall. The schedule was designed to accommodate the needs of two endangered species, the [[Peregrine falcon]] and the [[Shortnose sturgeon]]. Barges were placed in the Penobscot River onto which sections of the bridge were lowered. The concrete piers in the Riverriver are all that remains, and MDOT worked with the [[United States Coast Guard]] to design lights for them once the Bridge was removed to aid ships in the Riverriver.<ref>{{cite webnews | last =Miller Miller| first = Kevin | year =2012 2012| url = http://bangordailynews.com/2012/02/14/news/hancock/demolition-of-86-year-old-penobscot-river-bridge-to-begin-this-fall/ | title = Demolition of 86-year-old Penobscot River bridge to begin this fall | publisher newspaper= Bangor Daily News| accessdate |access-date=February 14, 2012}}</ref> Later, MaineDOT announced that the low bid of $5.35 million by S&R Corp. of [[Lowell, Massachusetts]], was accepted.<ref>{{cite webnews | last =Moretto | first =Mario | year date=2012 | url =http://bangordailynews.com/2012/08/11/news/hancock/state-receives-low-bid-of-5-35-million-for-demolition-of-waldo-hancock-bridge-to-start-in-october/ | title = State receives low bid of $5.35 million for demolition of Waldo–Hancock Bridge, to start in October | publisher newspaper= Bangor Daily News| accessdate |access-date=August 12, 2012}}</ref>

Demolition eventually was delayed until November 202012, 2012beginning with the November 20 removal of the bridge's flag poles, and was completed in June, 2013.<ref>{{cite web |lastauthor=MaineDOT |title=Waldo–Hancock Bridge Removal |url=http://www.maine.gov/mdot/whbridgeremoval/index.htm |accessdateaccess-date=3 February 3, 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Waldo-Hancock and Penobscot Narrows Bridges 2007 and 2013.jpg|thumb|center|650px|The Waldo-Hancock and Penobscot Narrows Bridges as viewed from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory in July, 2007, and July, 2013, after the Waldo-Hancock Bridge had been demolished]]

LOC historical image of Waldo-Hancock Bridge.tif|The Waldo–Hancock Bridge, Ft. Knox, and Bucksport, MEMaine, seen from Verona Island (1994)

Waldo-Hancock_and_Penobscot_Narrows_Bridges_entering_Verona_Island_July,_2007_(2).jpg|The Waldo-Hancock and Penobscot Narrows Bridges entering Verona Island viewed from below (2007)

The following sources are referenced in the [[Historic American Engineering Record|HAER]] documentation:<ref>{{cite websfn| last = Larson Farnham| first = Katherine| year = 1999| url p= http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/me/me0300/me0313/data/me0313data.pdf | title = Waldo–Hancock Bridge| work = Historic American Engineering Record| pages = 3| publisher = Library of Congress| accessdate = May 1, 2006}}</ref>

*{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=Donald C. |date=1988 |title=Great American Bridges and Dams: A National Trust Guide |series=Great American Places Series |location=Washington, DCD.C. |publisher=The Preservation Press |isbn=0891331298 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/greatamericanbri0000jack }}

*{{Cite book |last=Plowden |first=David |date=1974 |title=Bridges: The Spans of North America |location=New York |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=0393019365}}

*{{HAER |survey=ME-65 |id=me0313 |title=Waldo–Hancock Bridge, Spanning Penobscot River at U.S. Route 1, Bucksport vicinity, Hancock, ME |photos=36 |data=15 |cap=5}}

[[Category:Bridges onof the United States Numbered HighwaysHighway System]]