BRUNSWICK

Town staff plans to fund replacement of the Black Bridge spanning the Androscoggin River between Brunswick and Topsham as part of next year’s municipal budget.

A $350,000 insurance settlement and $130,000 from the town’s general fund are proposed to fund that replacement in the current spending plan.

Those accounts make up the $480,000 cost assessment to replace the bridge given to the town by engineer Peter Lincoln, of Lincoln/ Haney Engineering Associates Inc.

Just more than a year ago, the Maine Department of Transportation closed the bridge after a car crash damaged its main support system. A subsequent MDOT inspection determined that most of the bridge would need to be replaced before it could handle vehicle traffic again.

The top level of the bridge carries the Lewiston Lower Road rail line over the river and has remained open.

Tom Farrell, director of the Brunswick Parks and Recreation Department, said Monday night that a new bridge in that location would be galvanized and painted to avoid the level of deterioration seen on the weathered steel structure.

The budget to replace the bridge will be up for discussion, along with the rest of the town’s budget, Thursday at a budget workshop in advance of the Town Council’s expected vote on the budget at a May 31 meeting.

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