Unbuilding a Maine Landmark

By Henry Petroski

Taking down the landmark Waldo-Hancock Bridge at the end of its lifetime was almost as complicated as constructing it in the first place.

This Article From Issue

November-December 2013

Volume 101, Number 6

Page 414

DOI: 10.1511/2013.105.414

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The Waldo-Hancock Bridge, which connected the two Maine counties for which it was named, stood for 75 years as a structure with much engineering and historical significance. This suspension bridge barely survived to celebrate its diamond anniversary, but because its main cables had become so badly corroded, supplementary ones had to be installed in 2003 to allow heavy trucks to continue to use the bridge. The hastily erected new cables ruined the graceful lines of the original structure, and they were considered only a stopgap measure until a new cable-stayed bridge could be constructed beside the old bridge. As soon as the new one was ready to carry the traffic of U.S. Route 1 over the Penobscot River, which occurred in December 2006, the old one was closed and stood as a rusting hulk. Last year, disassembly work began.

The Waldo-Hancock Bridge was dismantled step by step, in the opposite order from which it was originally assembled. The deck was cut into sections that were removed from alternating sides of the bridge, in order to balance the stresses placed on the towers and cables. The replacement bridge can be seen in the background.

Photograph courtesy of S&R Corporation.

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