Darryl Coombs

Frank J. Wood Bridge Project

The Frank J. Wood Bridge between the towns of Brunswick and Topsham made great progress this fall in preparation for steel erection this winter.

After the challenging floods of January 2024, the crew hit the water in August to knock out cofferdams at Piers 1 & 2.  Not the easiest of cofferdams to build as they were sitting directly on exposed ledge just below the dam, but the crew made quick work of them to make way for pier construction.   Meanwhile another crew was wrapping up construction of Abutment 1 and reconfiguring forms & liner to hit the two remaining piers full steam.

Currently the bridge substructure is complete, and steel erection is well underway with giant steel girders arriving each week from Pennsylvania.  The curved girders vary in length and weight, ranging up to 119 feet and 95,000 pounds.  With completion of steel erection wrapping up before spring, crews will begin building the bridge deck formwork in preparation for installing the concrete deck later in 2025.

Despite the winter conditions, Reed & Reed crews and the faithful spectators from Brunswick and Topsham are on hand daily!

Madawaska International Bridge

The International Bridge project between Madawaska, ME and Edmundston, NB has progressed exceedingly well this year. Reed & Reed, and our subcontractors have all come together to complete the demolition phase of the project safely and on-schedule.

After the four steel trusses spanning the St. John River were removed, the pier demolition team worked overtime including nights and weekends to finish the removal of the existing bridge two weeks ahead of schedule.

With Phase 2 of the Canadian abutment construction now underway, there has been significant progress toward completing the last small piece of the new bridge structure. Despite encountering several challenges during the excavation of the previously built structure, the team has successfully installed the new abutment micro piles, placed the remaining abutment breast wall and bearing pedestal, and is now progressing with the construction of the wing wall and final steel erection.

The new $89 million bridge is 1800 feet long and soars nearly 100 feet over the St John River separating the United States and Canada and now reconnects commerce between the two communities.  The existing bridge had been posted to 5-ton limits.

Hinsdale, NH – Brattleboro, VT Bridge over Connecticut River:

The Hinsdale-Brattleboro project is nearing completion.  All major work for Reed & Reed is done at this point and we opened the bridge on December 4, 2024.  The project had some major challenges, including an 18-month delay on Pier 1 and a flood during the Pier 2 seal placement to name a couple; but the crew’s determination and hard work prevailed, bringing the project in on time. Crews will be wrapping up final fencing, lighting and local road relocations as weather permits.

As NHDOT Commissioner Bill Cass said about the completion of this $64 million project, “A particularly proud moment came in early December 2024 with the ribbon-cutting ceremony the much-anticipated opening of the new General John Stark Memorial Bridge connecting Hinsdale, NH and Brattleboro, VT.”

Indeed, all of us at Reed & Reed are very proud of our work on this project.

Maine Maritime Academy Waterfront Facilities Upgrade

Reed & Reed crews have begun building the new marine facility for Maine Maritime Academy’s new training vessel.  This $85 million project includes replacing the existing pier with a new, larger one, three new mooring dolphins, a breakwater and other ancillary upgrades.

The pile template is in place and production piling installation is underway.  Over 300 steel pipe piles will be driven to refusal and socketed into bedrock to support the new structures.  Precast pile caps and slabs will support the new concrete deck system.

Old Town Bridge Project -

This project is a CMGC (Construction Manager General Contractor) model in which Reed & Reed is working under a CMGC agreement with the Maine DOT, alongside their Engineer, and other key stakeholders to finalize the design, as well as schedule and budget the project to meet the DOT’s needs.  This allows work to begin on the project as they are completing the design by issuing “Early Release Packages” (ERPs).

Early Release Package #5 is underway with onsite drilling of the pier sockets. Once the first three piles are socketed, we’ll begin building pile caps, which will sit on 54” FRP composite pile filled with a steel reinforcing cage and concrete.

ERPs #1-#4 provided for installation of the a 525 foot long temporary detour bridge, demolition of the two existing bridge superstructures, procurement of advanced technology composite bridge girders and other long-lead materials.

Once the bridge piers and abutments are complete we will take delivery of the superstructure beams and complete the deck. The superstructure beams are innovative composite girders being made in Winterport Maine.  Fabrication has begun and we expect to take delivery of the girders for the first bridge during summer 2025.

Augusta Western Avenue Bridge Replacement Project

Augusta crews have been busy to end the year.  Our concrete crew has been working hard under the existing bridge for 9 months, placing over 1,000 yards of concrete on bedrock. They completed the final placement as a precursor to demolition of  the existing bridge.

Meanwhile, the crew built our 4-span, 50ft. wide detour bridge over I-95. They started with building the two 52’ spans on either end of the bridge followed by the middle spans over I-95 at night with the concrete crew prepping materials during the day. Everyone worked hard to get the detour finished and paved before the holidays.

We of course need to recognize and give a huge shoutout to our fabrication crews who built all the components in Woolwich. The crews built sixty-six, 50 ft. concrete slabs for our deck at our precast concrete fabrication facility on the banks of the Kennebec River  Also, thanks to the fab shop for fabricating all of our steel, rebuilding used steel, preparing pipe supports, and all the details to put together this 240’ detour bridge.

Meanwhile a crew at our Dockyard precast facility has been building our Precast Bridge Units this winter. They have received the structural steel beams and assembled the first sections of PBUs for casting. We will have a busy winter precasting our bridge before shipping it up to Augusta for assembly over busy I-95 next summer.