Babb’s Bridge as seen last week from its Gorham banks. Robert Lowell/American Journal

Babb’s Covered Bridge, substantially damaged Aug. 23 when a dump truck plunged through its deck into the Presumpscot River, is under repair and could reopen by the end of March.

The bridge, a replica of the original that was destroyed by arson, opened in 1976. The structure links Gorham’s Hurricane Road with Windham’s Covered Bridge Road.

“The Gorham Historical Society is going to work with the Windham Historical Society to plan something for the reopening of the bridge,” Suzanne Phillips, Gorham Historical Society president, said Tuesday.

A Maine Department of Transportation crew is repairing the damage to the wooden span. The members of the crew are also responsible for snowplowing, according to MDOT spokesman Paul Merrill, which could impact the timeline.

The posted weight limit for the bridge is three tons (about 6,000 pounds) and the state last year said the truck loaded with gravel weighed 36,000 pounds, the Portland Press Herald reported on Aug. 27.

“The work to fix the damage from last August is about $110,000,” Merrill said last week. “The department is seeking reimbursement from the driver’s insurance company.”

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Gorham Police Department, following the incident, identified the driver of the Ford F750 as Joshua Polewarzyk, 37, of Limington. Polewarzyk did not return an American Journal Facebook message seeking comment on Jan. 17.

The name on the door of the truck pulled from the river is The Driveway Guys, a Biddeford-based company. The American Journal, seeking comment, left a voice message Tuesday with the business.

The Driveway Guys truck that broke through the bridge is pictured after it was pulled from the Presumpscot River. Robert Lowell/American Journal

Chris Couillard of The Driveway Guys said in a return voice message to the American Journal, “We are going to make everything right on our favor. You know we are stepping up to do, to take care of, and pay whatever we have to pay, and to make this right for both communities, Windham and Gorham, and do our part.

“We had an accident with a unexperienced driver, who is no longer with the company,” Couillard said in the voice message.

Carl Phillips of Phillips and Sons Auto Body worked in tandem with another towing company to extract the dump truck from the river. Phillips said Tuesday a representative of The Driveway Guys has met with him and was apologetic.

Phillips, who said he had two workers in the water during the retrieval, said the bill is about $20,000 and he has the F750. “The only thing I’ve got is a broken truck,” Phillips said.

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Gorham Fire Chief Kenny Fickett said last week the cost of the town’s response is $7,369.53 and it also had not been paid by Jan. 15.

The bridge damage was on the Gorham side of the river, but the town of Windham had a minor commitment at the scene and Assistant Town Manager Robert Burns last week believed it could be eligible for some response reimbursement.

Merrill said repair work has begun because materials arrived earlier than expected and the weather has been cooperative. “We are also using this opportunity to put a new deck on the bridge,” Merrill said. “MDOT is paying for that, and we estimate it will be between $10,000 and $20,000.”

The original bridge was placed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and was destroyed by arson in 1973. A crew from MDOT assembled the present covered bridge using donated lumber milled in Gorham.

The date the original covered bridge was built has been reported as early as 1840, or in 1864 during the Civil War.

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