RUMFORD — After months of preparation, a local engineering and contracting company has begun work on removing the Martin Memorial Bridge over the Androscoggin River at Rumford Point and replacing it, according to Maine Department of Transportation Project Manager Steve Bodge.

Bodge said Wyman and Simpson Inc. of Richmond won the bid to remove the 57-year-old green truss bridge earlier in the year.

“Right now, their first step is to start with the road lay-work,” Bodge said. “They need to build an approach down to the new bridge, since the new bridge is moving farther down the river.”

The Martin Memorial Bridge is 600 feet long, with three spans and steel trusses. It’s 24 feet wide from curb to curb.

The state is proposing to make the new bridge 32 feet wide, curb to curb. It will have 11-foot-wide travel lanes and 5-foot-wide shoulders to better accommodate snowmobile traffic.

The new bridge, according to state engineers, will be moved 600 feet upriver, connect traffic from Route 232 to Route 2 and allow for greater sight distance on Route 2.

The project is estimated to cost $9,311,116.

Bodge said MDOT is shooting for a completion date of the fall of 2015, though it could be completed sooner if the upcoming winter allows Wyman and Simpson to continue working through the season.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com