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Crossing To Safety

Memorial Bridge To Reopen After Repairs

By Christopher Percy Collier | Online Only | Nov. 23, 2009 

Memorial Bridge last spring

Credit: National Trust for Historic Preservation

Last spring, an 86-year-old truss bridge connecting Portsmouth, N.H., with Kittery, Maine, was placed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. At the time, some experts estimated the Memorial Bridge would last as little as two years without repairs. Last month, however, Memorial Bridge was unexpectedly barricaded—a blessing in disguise. With those essential repairs nearly completed, it's scheduled to reopen this week, much to the relief of locals.

"The closure for repairs is an overdue acknowledgement of the appalling lack of maintenance of the structure," says Roberta Lane, an attorney in the Boston-based Northeast Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The poor condition of this famous twin-towered span, which rises thousands of times each year to accommodate ship traffic, is not news to those who live in and around the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth. Officials first responded by imposing a 15-ton weight restriction for trucks. Then they reduced the limit to 10 tons. And on Oct. 16, immediately after a section of the truss on the northern end of bridge was found to be structurally unsound, the bridge was shut down to all automotive traffic. When it reopens, the weight restriction will be set at three tons, making it suitable for almost no vehicle heavier than a pick-up truck.

To many locals, the recent closure created a temporary shortfall. Businesses reported lost income; commuters and other motorists complained about having to go miles out of their way.

Portsmouth and Kittery aren't the only towns struggling to retain their bridges. "The country is losing historic bridges at a rapid rate," says Wendy Nicholas, director of the National Trust's Northeast Office, "and, to some extent, Memorial Bridge is a poster child for other historic bridges."

In St. Augustine Florida, for instance, locals are attempting save the Bridge of Lions, a Mediterranean-style bascule bridge in the National Historic Landmark District. In Franklin, N.C., a crowd of concerned residents recently filed into the Oak Grove Baptist Church to inform the Department of Transportation that they'd prefer the historic McCoy Bridge, located nearby, be renovated rather than replaced. But in Crown Point, N.Y., the battle to save a graceful 1929 bridge was lost: the Lake Champlain bridge closed on Oct. 16 and will be demolished.

Memorial Bridge connects Portsmouth, N.H., with Kittery, Maine

Credit: Steve Fowle

Part of Portsmouth's Past

Those who live in and around Portsmouth, the third-oldest city in the country, are no strangers to saving historic places. In the 1950s, preservation efforts began in the area now known as Strawberry Banke, which consists of 35 buildings, some dating back to 1623. In the 1990s, there was the successful push to protect Wentworth by the Sea, a historic hotel from the 1800s. Today, those who walk along the Portsmouth Harbour Trail in town encounter 10 houses on the National Register of Historic Places, 10 National Historic Landmarks, and three homes operated by Historic New England. (Portsmouth was named one of 2008's Dozen Distinctive Destinations.)

While Memorial Bridge doesn't date back to the Colonial era, its history is significant. Memorial was the first major vertical lift bridge in the eastern United States. The structure, which includes a large, flat section of road that rises and falls to let ships pass below, is a World War I war memorial and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In the fall of 2008, Maine and New Hampshire jointly examined the cost of restoration. State officials concluded that costs might exceed the original projected price tage by $15 million, so the state of Maine pulled funding for the rehabilitation project, much to the consternation of local preservationists like Richard Candee. "It made me really mad that that state of Maine would just say, 'Oh well, I guess we are not going to do this,'" he says.

Soon after, Candee became a key advocate in the effort to save Memorial Bridge. First, he wrote the nomination that earned it a coveted place one the National Trust's "11 Most" list. Then, shortly after winning this distinction, he helped gather a crowd of about 200 people to march over the bridge carrying signs, which was followed by a demonstration at a nearby park.

"We had people out there of all ages," Candee recalls. "There were preservationists, but there where also cyclists and pedestrians who use the bridge to commute to work." Following that, a team of advocates traveled to Augusta, Maine's capital, to make transportation officials aware of the community's desire to restore this bridge rather than replace it. The National Trust for Historic Preservation joined the campaign that brought efforts to save the bridge to the next step: the request for federal funding.

In a welcome surprise, in June Maine and New Hampshire agreed to apply for federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) funding to repair Memorial Bridge. The proposal, submitted Sept. 15, 2009, detailed structural problems, the bridge's historical significance, the public's desire to preserve the icon, and the plan for restoring it. According to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the $1.5 billion in TIGER stimulus money will be announced by January of 2010—and the application for Memorial Bridge appears to make it a viable candidate. Candee attests that the plan is "shovel-ready and … environmentally sound."

Trashing the old bridge for a new one would be wasteful, notes Wendy Nicholas. "Memorial Bridge is a much-loved landmark on both sides of the river, and the investment of natural resources to replace it would be significant," says Nicholas, pointing to the environmental rationale for keeping the bridge. If Memorial Bridge were removed, she says, the metal that has long served as a memorial to veterans and a local icon will simply be "tossed away," which is particularly ironic because it would leave one less historic structure in Portsmouth, a city better known for keeping history alive.

Read more about sustainability and historic preservation

Christopher Percy Collier writes for the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, and Men's Journal. 

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