History

Bailey Island Bridge from Bailey Island, looking toward Orr's Island

For many years, the residents of Bailey Island, Maine advocated that a bridge be built to connect their island with Orr's Island. The town of Harpswell, Maine, which encompasses both islands, turned down the request. However, when the Maine Legislature drafted a law allowing the state and counties to fund bridge construction, a plan emerged to build such a bridge. A contract was signed in 1926, with construction beginning on the Bailey Island Bridge in 1927 and finishing in 1928. The engineer for the project was Llewelyn N. Edwards. View from Lands End at the southern tip of Bailey Island. ... A view of the ocean near Lookout Point in Harpswell. ...

Design

Design of the 1,150-foot bridge was complicated by the tides in the area known as Will's Gut. It was decided to build a cribstone bridge using granite slabs from local quarries. Granite slabs were considered sufficiently heavy to withstand wind and wave, while the open cribbing allowed the tide to ebb and flow freely without increasing tidal current to any great degree. Some 10,000 tons of granite were used in the project. A concrete road (now part of Route 24) was built on top of the cribstones. Quarrying granite for the Mormon Temple, Utah Territory. ...

Additions and Recognition

A sidewalk was added in 1951 and guard rails in 1961. On July 19, 1984 the Bailey Island Bridge was recognized as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Bailey Island Bridge is believed to be the only surviving granite cribstone bridge in the world. A sidewalk. ... A system designed to keep people or vehicles from (in most cases unintentionally) straying into dangerous or off-limits areas. ... The National Register of Historic Places is the USAs official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects worthy of preservation. ...

Sources

• Maine Department of Transportation ([1])
• Curtis Library ([2])
• Bridgemeister ([3])

Further reading

• Kathleen Clemons Photography of Bailey Island Bridge[4]
• Maine Bridge History[5]
• History of Bailey Island[6]