Penobscot Narrows Bridge - Prospect, ME
N 44° 33.685 W 068° 48.276
19T E 515517 N 4934250
US-1 Penobscot river crossing beside Fort Knox State Park.
Waymark Code: WM3HYE
Location: Maine, United States
Date Posted: 04/09/2008
Views: 92
This new bridge replaced the old Waldo-Hancock bridge.
The Waldo-Hancock (county) Bridge has served as a gateway to Downeast Maine for several decades. It bridges the border between two counties but also between major geographic regions of Maine.
The replacement for the Waldo-Hancock Bridge being built here will be the first cable-stay bridge in Maine! Designing the replacement for the Waldo-Hancock was a challenge because most cable-stay bridges tend to be very modern in their appearance. But with historic Fort Knox right next door, the local community felt very strongly that they wanted a more traditional-appearing bridge.
In a design workshop in the fall of 2003, local community members suggested that the new bridge be built incorporating a "granite" theme, in honor of the significance this stone has had on the local economy over the past two centuries. In researching historical shapes, the Maine Department of Transportation discovered that the Washington Monument was built partially of granite from Mt. Waldo. As a result, a pylon shape modeled after the Washington Monument was proposed. And as with that monument, visitors and residents will be able to take an elevator to the top of the pylon, 420 feet in the air. No other bridge in the United States offers such a possibility!
• Bridge: Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory
• City: Prospect
• State: Maine
• Country: USA
• Carries: US-1/ME-3
• Crosses: Penobscot River
• Date Opened: December 30, 2006
• Total Length: 2,120 Feet
• Longest Span: 1,161 Feet
• Tower Height: 440 Feet
• Deck Width: 58 Feet
• Number Of Lanes: 2
• Number Of Spans: 1
• Height Above Water: 135 Feet
The new Penobscot Narrows Bridge includes an observatory at the top of tower number one. An elevator will be available from May to October of each year to ride to the top. The elevator entrance is below the roadway and just above the waterline. There are only two other bridges in the world that have a similar observatory.
This bridge is built with a unique cable system. The cables loop through the towers, but do not attach to the towers. This reduces the complexity of the cable system, and eliminates the attachment points to the towers. This is only the second bridge to be built that way, the other is the Glass City Bridge in Toledo, Ohio.
Date Completed: 12/30/2006
Usage: Automobile
Length: 2120 feet
WWW: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
Log your find with the picture of the bridge that you like. No gpsr required in the photo...different seasons and lighting for the pictures is what will be the goal.