Project Description

The Prospect-Verona Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge spanning the Penobscot River.  Conceived as a signature bridge, the west pylon has an elevator-serviced public observation area 450 ft above the water.  Due to heavy ship traffic and difficult river conditions, the bridge provides 150 ft of vertical clearance and completely spans the Penobscot River with its main span of 1160 ft.  The structure is founded on two massive footings, one pile supported and one blasted into ledge, each containing approximately 3000 cy of concrete.  The two pylons are concrete obelisks styled to mimic the Washington Monument.  At 450 ft tall, they total nearly 10,000 cy of concrete.  The superstructure is a cast-in-place concrete box placed in a balanced-cantilever method using form travelers and contains over 13,000 cy of concrete.  The box is approximately 60 ft wide by 13 ft deep and the overall length is 2120 ft.  The concrete box superstructure is supported by a single plane of cable stays attached to the two pylons.  Eighty cable stays are arranged in a harp configuration giving the bridge its unique look.  the bridge contract was awarded in a modified design-build procurement to speed construction.  MDOT contracted with the contractor and designer separately and through a subsequent teaming process the final design was developed and optimized.  The Prospect-Verona Bridge is one of a handful of cable-stayed bridges in the US and only the second cable-stayed bridge built in New England.

Location: Prospect, Maine
Owner: Maine Department of Transportation
Completed: December, 2006
Cost: $75 Million
Contractor: Reed & Reed, Inc. / Cianbro Joint Venture