CARRABASSETT VALLEY — Sugarloaf Mountain Resort became Maine’s most high-profile victim of Tropical Storm Irene when flooding washed out two bridges Sunday on Route 27, cutting off the resort’s primary access from the north and south.
By Monday afternoon, even as state officials said the washouts had “effectively isolated” the resort, Sugarloaf officials said a detour had been established on the southern end so people could still get there.
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Gov. Paul LePage inspected the damaged bridges Monday morning, as well as flooded locations in Phillips and Rumford.
Sugarloaf got about 8.5 inches of rain from Irene, which flooded nearby rivers. In a news release, officials said Monday that the bridge north of Sugarloaf was damaged and impassable.
The bridge to the south of Sugarloaf was also demolished.
“The resort’s business operations will continue as usual,” said the release from the resort.
Mark Latti of the Department of Transportation said two short-term options are being weighed for Route 27: “enhancing” private dirt roads so they can connect to Sugarloaf’s access road, or installing a temporary bridge. The long-term solution is to replace both bridges, he said.
Route 27 also takes traffic to and from Quebec.
Yannick Livernoche, 34, of Weedon, Quebec, escaped becoming a victim of the storm by mere feet, watching as the bridges crumbled within seconds of his 18-wheeler reaching them.
“I feel very lucky to have gotten out,” he said Monday morning, sitting near the bridges that had collapsed into the Carrabassett River and Brackett Brook.
He avoided two near disasters during the height of the flooding.
He was driving toward Quebec on Sunday with a truckload of lime when he crossed the river’s bridge. Water covering the road north of the bridge forced him to stop and back up over it about 4:30 p.m., he said.
The bridge started crumbling just after his truck made it safely to the south side, he said.
Livernoche started driving south and stopped just in time to see the other bridge collapse into the brook, he said.
He found himself trapped on the small section of highway in front of Sugarloaf, which is impassable for commercial trucks.
Livernoche planned to get a ride home from another driver at his company, Breton Trucking, he said. His truck will stay at the site until at least one of the bridges is passable.
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