AUGUSTA (AP) — Memorial Bridge in Augusta is getting a $7 million paint job.
Work on the nearly 2,100- foot-long, 48-foot-wide bridge is expected to start next week and continue into the fall.
The good news is that most of the work will be underneath the deck, so little impact on traffic is predicted.
The $7 million cost of repainting the bridge, which was built in 1949 at a cost of $1.2 million, is lower than state Department of Transportation officials thought. Project Manager Nate Benoit said a state engineer previously estimated it would cost about $10 million.
Benoit tells the Kennebec Journal the work involves removing the old paint, some of which likely contains hazardous lead, and containing it so it can be removed and disposed of off-site.
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