LEWISTON — Repairs to the small bridge between Oxford Street and Simard-Payne Memorial Park could be one-third of the projected costs, based on bids on the project.
South Paris’ Bancroft Contracting Corp. submitted the apparent lowest bid to repair the 55-foot-long Beech Bridge, offering to repair the metal structure by mid-June for $7,050. The city had budgeted $25,000 for the project.
“Now, we’ll have them sit down and talk with our engineers to make sure they understand the scope of the work,” Norm Beauparlant, Lewiston’s director of purchasing, said. “I think they do. They just really want to do that work.”
Beauparlant said he plans to present the bids to the city Finance Committee Monday night and then to the City Council on Tuesday. If they approve, work would be complete within 45 days.
The bridge is at the end of Beech Street and is designed to carry vehicle traffic from Oxford Street over the canal and onto the park. Pedestrian bridges, one just north of Birch Street, another on the north end of the park and a third over the Androscoggin River to Auburn, are not affected.
It’s the only access for cars to five properties surrounded by the canals and the Androscoggin River. The city owns two, and they make up the park. Museum L-A owns the old Camden Yarn Mill, M&B Realty owns the portion along the southeastern end of the canal and FPL Energy owns a narrow piece along the southern end of the area.
A February inspection showed the bridge had deteriorated significantly since a 2007 inspection, and the city posted a warning on the bridge saying it could not carry more than two tons. That ruled out most trucks, SUVs, semis and all city fire and ambulance rescue vehicles.
That’s a problem for the Museum L-A, hoping to do demolition and repairs now at the old mill, the future home of the museum and for special events and festivals that use the park.
Beauparlant said the city received three bids for the work. Wyman and Simpson of Richmond bid $20,200 and Auburn’s T-Buck Construction bid $21,000.
Bancroft has done work on the city’s canals before, Beauparlant said.
“Bancroft is a big company and they know those kinds of metal structures and how to handle them,” he said.
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