Old US 2 Bridge - New Sharon, Maine

In the Franklin County town of New Sharon in central Maine was a bridge that was on a former alignment of US 2 through New Sharon. At the time of the bridge's demolition in February 2014, the New Sharon Bridge was the last known surviving pin-connected highway truss throughout the entire state of Maine. Built in 1916 by New York's Croton Bridge Company, the New Sharon Bridge spanned over the Sandy River. A couple of friends and I visited the old bridge in early September 2004. At the time, it was meant to be a temporary bridge closure.

Looking at the old truss bridge from the east.

A view of the modern bridge that carries US 2, ME 27 and ME 134 over the Sandy River.

The Sandy River looking south as seen from the bridge. This is what a lot of interior Maine looks like in the summer.

Looking east from the bridge. You can notice the steel deck and that the bridge was probably a bottleneck during its heyday. The bridge leads to a mostly dirt path.

New Sharon as seen looking west from the bridge. As you can see, a barricade has been around for a while.

The weight limit of the bridge is 3 tons, but someone took the liberty of changing the limit.

A plaque on the base of the bridge about when it was built. Looks like the bridge was built by the Croton Bridge Company in 1916.

Can't make out this plaque as well, maybe it is honoring the bridge builders or perhaps a few trustees.

Sign stating that the bridge is closed, temporarily. Unfortunately, it is now closed permanently as the bridge was demolished in 2014, some ten years after I took this photo.

Sources and Links:
Bridgehunter - New Sharon Bridge

Comments

Anonymous said…

The name of the bridge company was in fact the Groton Bridge Company of Groton, NY.

5:06 PM

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