The Barters Island Bridge Project will not be completed prior to Thanksgiving Day. Instead it will likely be ready by mid-January. The project began in May 2019, and was first delayed by the coronavirus. Originally, the project was slated for completion by Memorial Day 2020, and later November 2020. But last week, Maine Department of Transportation reported another delay.

Project Resident Glenn Philbrook reported three unforeseen events will delay the project two more months. The latest delay is being attributed to the contractor underestimating the time needed to complete the work, discovery of several minor fabrication errors, and unavailability of subcontractors to balance and fine-tune the bridge’s stability, which normally takes four to five weeks. 

“The contractor (Reed & Reed Construction of Woolwich) has significant experience in bridges, but not on movable ones. There was an underestimate for completing the remaining 25% of work. The work is very detailed with tolerances less than a sixteenth of an inch,” Philbrook said. 

MDOT expects the bridge ready by Jan. 25, with height restrictions for boat traffic lifted by Feb. 1. Some temperature-related items (striping, painting the truss, landscaping and paving driveway entrances) will take place next spring. The bridge was built in 1931 which included its being turned manually, but the new version will have an automated turn. In 2019, MDOT awarded Reed & Reed the reconstruction for a bid of $8.2 million.