Rising water levels on the Androscoggin River approach the underside of both the Frank J. Wood Bridge and the construction site of its replacement Tuesday, causing the Maine Department of Transportation to close the bridge to all traffic. Courtesy of the Maine Department of Transportation
Officials shut down the Frank J. Wood Bridge linking downtown Brunswick and Topsham late Tuesday morning due to high water levels stemming from Monday’s severe storm.
The Maine Department of Transportation decided to close the bridge around 11 a.m., as the Androscoggin River was rushing just 6 feet below the bridge deck’s beams, according to MDOT spokesperson Paul Merrill.
Water also closed in on the bottom of the adjacent bridge that is being built to replace the Frank J. Wood Bridge. Despite the rising water levels, construction on the new bridge has not been impeded so far by the storm.
“I don’t have any reason to believe that this will seriously disrupt the construction project,” Merrill said.
Although winds have died and the rain ebbed, waters continue to rise on the Androscoggin.
“We’ve been told to expect water levels to go up another 3 feet,” Merrill said early Tuesday afternoon. “With the water that close to the bridge, we decided to close it to traffic out of an abundance of caution.”
Merrill expects the bridge to be closed to traffic until Wednesday. There is a detour using Routes 1 and 196.
“It’s the same detour that the same commercial vehicles have been using for months because the bridge has a weight restriction because of its age and condition,” Merrill said.
Since 2021, the state has restricted vehicles weighing 10 tons or more from crossing the bridge, preventing fire trucks and some commercial vehicles from crossing it. Construction is underway on the new bridge, which is slated to be completed in late 2026 and open for traffic sooner. Woolwich contractor Reed & Reed is completing the work under a $49.9 million contract with the State of Maine.
“We’re not concerned about anything catastrophic happening,” Merrill said of the bridge. “But we’re, you know, just down there buttoning things up with the water levels rising.”
Sea Dog Brewing, the first stop in Topsham off the bridge, remained closed Tuesday. Marlo Longley, an employee of Gulf of Maine Books on Brunswick’s Maine Street, said that while the closure of the bridge “hasn’t noticeably impacted us today, it has been a topic of conversation.”
The closure is one of many across the Midcoast as Monday’s storm proves to be more devastating than anticipated. Although Central Maine Power has deployed hundreds of line and tree workers across the state, power outages remain across Brunswick, Topsham and the surrounding area. All of Maine School Administrative District 75 schools, including those in Harpswell, Bowdoin and Bowdoinham, remained closed Tuesdays, as did schools in Brunswick.
“We are expecting to open tomorrow,” SAD 75 Superintendent Heidi O’Leary said Tuesday in an email. “I am waiting on final reports, but currently all schools have power except for Bowdoinham and Harpswell.”
As of 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, about 4,000 of Brunswick’s 11,700 CMP customers were still without power. Most Freeport outages had been restored, with just over 400 residents still in the dark. About 3,000 customers in Harpswell didn’t have power; 3,000 of Bath’s 5,000 CMP customers hadn’t been restored; and 1,000 in Topsham.
Most Phippsburg, Bowdoinham and Woolwich residents were waiting for power to be restored by sundown Tuesday.
Water rushes over the dam and under the construction of the new Frank J. Wood bridge, slated for 2026, after a warm winter storm caused high winds and heavy rain across the state Monday. Courtesy of the Maine Department of Transportation
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