After years of patchwork repairs to damage from vandalism and car accidents, the Maine Department of Transportation is making major renovations to the historic Babb’s Bridge in South Windham.

The repairs, which started Sept. 19 and are expected to continue through the end of October, have completely closed the bridge, which connects Covered Bridge Road in Windham to Hurricane Road in Gorham.

Doten Construction, the contractor for the project, will be replacing the bridge’s wooden roof and sides, which have seen extensive damage caused by vandalism. The budget for the project is $89,000, according to Ted Talbot, spokersman for the department.

Gary Plummer, a member of Windham Historical Society and an unofficial keeper of the bridge, says he’s excited about the changes. Plummer is a volunteer who has visited the bridge regularly two or three times a month for the last few years, since the bridge started to see problems with vandalism on the roof.

Plummer said although the bridge has suffered from vandalism before, the damage done this summer is more extensive than ever. Entire boards have been knocked off the roof, he said, presumably by swimmers looking to access the roof as a jumping-off point into the Presumpscot River.

The inside of the covered bridge is also tagged with graffiti.

This isn’t the first time the state has repaired Babb’s Bridge. Most recently, in December 2015, the department undertook a $45,000 project to stabilize the granite block abutment on the Windham side of the state-owned structure, where some of the stones had shifted through the years.

That January, a hit-and-run accident dislodged a key wooden support pole on left side of Windham entrance. The damage also caused the department to close the bridge for nearly a month for repairs.

But Talbot said the current work differs because while before the department was responding to immediate damage and making repairs needed to keep the bridge functional, “this is the first time in quite some time we’ve gone into this depth of repair,” he said.

The construction will create a plywood frame for the roof and sides, which will be layered with cedar shingles. The goal, Talbot said, is to recreate the bridge’s original look, “using the same materials and same approach.”

Preserving the look of Babb’s Bridge is important from a historical perspective, according to Plummer. The bridge is one of only nine covered bridges in the state.

Plummer, who has visited four of state’s covered bridges, said that many of them suffer from vandalism and graffiti, although the damage at Babb’s seemed more extensive.

For Plummer, his interest in the bridge was sparked four decades ago. He recalled when the bridge was destroyed by arson in 1973, and he “jumped in the car and went to the bridge, where others had gathered. We stood there in silence, like we were mourning the loss of a friend who had passed,” he said.

The current bridge was rebuilt as a replica of the original 1864 structure. It wasn’t until a dedication ceremony on the bicentennial in 1976 that Plummer “took great interest in the bridge,” he said.

The bridge is a Windham landmark and an attraction for tourists and locals alike. In July, Downeast Magazine named Babb’s Bridge as one of the 12 “best swimming holes” across the state. The magazine recommended jumping into the water from a rope swing or off the river bank, not from the bridge’s roof.

Plummer said he looks to work with Windham and Gorham’s historical societies, the Department of Transportation and municipal officers on a concerted effort to curb vandalism at the site.

Windham’s covered bridge, he said, “is an important part of our history, and something I want to see preserved for future generations to see what it was like in the 1800’s.”

Crew members from D&D Builders, a Randolph-based subcontractor on the project, scale Babb’s Bridge. The roof and sides of the historic covered bridge are being replaced by the Maine Department of Transportation.