Project Description

The Veterans Memorial Bridge is a pre-cast segmental bridge that carries US Rt. 1 across the Fore River from Portland to South Portland Maine. The bridge is 1610 feet long and is supported by 6 piers in the river spaced at 250 feet with shorter approach spans on each end of the bridge. The pier foundations consist of concrete tremie seals, footings and pier shafts supported by 22 inch steel pipe pile driven to ledge. The superstructure is a pair of parallel installed precast trapezoidal box sections varying in height from 8 ft. to 11 ft. and width from 40 ft. to 46 ft. The 361 segments vary in weight from 55 tons to 70 tons. The 3 ft. wide strip between the two individual box sections will be cast in place concrete forming one uniform deck 83 to 95 ft. wide. Upon completion of the new bridge, Reed & Reed will demolish the existing 4 lane bridge over the Fore River.

Reed & Reed selected TY Lin International as its design partner for this design-build project. As one of three short listed design-build teams we submitted a proposal that not only was the least expensive option for the owner but also the highest scoring proposal. Our design received high marks for innovation, aesthetics and efficiency. The team worked through a series of Context Sensitive Solution meetings that involved obtaining input from any interested parties including city officials from Portland and South Portland as well as many individual citizens to finalize many of the aesthetic details of the project.

Location: Portland/South Portland, Maine
Owner: Maine Department of Transportation
Completed: December 2012
Cost: $63 Million
Contractor: Reed & Reed, Inc.