BANGOR, Maine — Several large sections of Bangor’s pedestrian bridge arrived and were lifted into place Thursday.
Pete Tuell, the senior project manager with Haley Ward said all five of the nearly 80-foot pre-engineered steel replacement structures should be in place by Saturday.
A study in 2016 determined the old Willard C. Orr footbridge had reached its life expectancy and needed to be replaced.
The $1.2 million bridge connects Pickering Square with Hancock Street by crossing the Kenduskeag Stream.
"Each section is specific where they’ll boom it into place and it will be all ready to go all pre-assembled and once that’s in place, they’ll have a concrete deck that will be on top of it, " Tuell said. "They’ll be lighting, and some conduits, ancillary structures to complete the total project."
Bangor officials say the pedestrian bridge was originally built around 1980 and named in honor of Willard C. Orr, a Bangor High School graduate who was the only Bangor resident killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. He was serving as a Private First Class in the United States Army at the time of his death.
"It’s been very exciting. I think it’s great for the community and people are anxious to get this done," Tuell said. "It’s an important lane when you think about it and when it’s not here you realize how much you miss it. So, I’m quite certain the city and folks are going to be very happy to have this in place and up and operational."
The project is scheduled to be completed by July.