Work has started on the new International Bridge that will replace the current aging link connecting Edmundston, N.B. to the community of Madawaska, Maine.
Reed & Reed Inc., a Woolwich, Maine, company was awarded the contract to build the Edmundston-Madawaska International Bridge earlier this year.
Jackson Parker, CEO of the company, said workers on both sides of the border have started to build a temporary work trestle across the St. John River, which will be used to help build the bridge.
“It gives us access for manpower, equipment, materials — that sort of thing,” Parker explained.
The trestle should be ready by the end of August, with workers on both sides meeting in the middle.
Parker said the temporary work is required before the work on the permanent bridge starts.
“You have to build a big, strong temporary structure because the cranes are large, heavy equipment is large, the steel beams are long and heavy,” he said, adding the trestle is substantial.
The initial work on the bridge will be under water, beginning with building two of the five piers for the bridge, and should be starting in a few weeks.
The new bridge will be about 550 metres, which is about twice the size of the current bridge. It’s estimated to cost about $108 million Cdn, or $86 million US.
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