In the wake of a mechanical failure that shut the span down on Sunday, the NH Department of Transportation and Maine Department of Transportation have chose to permanently close to motor vehicle traffic the 76-year-old Sarah Mildred Long Bridge connecting Portsmouth and Kittery, Maine.
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The bridge, which connects Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Kittery, Maine, wasn’t able to lift to the “up” position on Sunday to allow marine traffic access to the Piscataqua River.
Engineers succeeded in lifting the bridge up for marine traffic on Monday, and it will remain in this position. That’s when the bridge became stuck again, reportedly due to a wheel malfunction.
Officials don’t know when – or if – it will be fixed. Now that the bridge is in the upright position, officials are unsure whether it can return to the down position.
Bill Boynton is with the state Department of Transportation.
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The bridge was already scheduled to close in November. It’s one of three bridges connecting the Granite State to ME, so state-hopping drivers aren’t completely out of luck. A replacement for the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge is set to open in September of 2017.
