The Bangor Daily News from Bangor, Maine • 62

rT- i 1 MiSi 10 Bangor Daily News Sat Sun November 8 9 1986 Name has special meaning for all -v a 1 if THE ENGINEERS who shared 1555-foot-long bridge since earths responsibilities for the ly 1984 And Elmer Wilcox resi- bridge and highway project are dent project pngineer of Harold Flagg Waterville MDOToverseer of -the highway Maine Department of Transporta- project' (NEWS Photo by-Marc tion resident engineet who has Blanchette) overseen construction -of the Efficiency was goal Samantha Smith Peace and Samantha were synonymous throughout the campaign call the bridge the Maine Peace Bridge and place a plaque for each of those who were uncommonly dedicated to the cause of wrote Joe Anne Zimmerman of Brewer The chamber faced a tough task A committee of three headed by Margo Cpbb general manager of WLBZ-TV assisted by Roy Daigle manager Bangor Mall and Arthur NAME from Page 1 mostly British still think that 'the Tower Bridge is London Bridge But as every astute bridge follower knows tb? real London Bridge is lo- cated in Colorado Hundreds of people jumped at the idea of naming the bridge Mail flooded the chamber offices And as seen in many of letters published in the NEWS although Samantha Smith was very popular there was even stronger leaning toward naming it in memory of the thou- sands of veterans who had repre- sented Maine in every battlecsinpe the Indian wars This is nothing unusual After all the other bridge" is named after a veteran -Ooshua Chamber-lain a Brewer resident and folTner governor of the state who earned the Medal of Honor during the Civil War What better tribute to a great American hero? When that bridge was opened officially in 1954 by a contingent of state and national digni taries everyone left saying they had watched the dedication of the bridge" which as you know sits adjacent to the "old bridge" Now there is a railroad bridge an a "new bridge" and a or For centuries history and mythol- ogy have been made at bridges Success in most wars depends on the speed and ability to capture or destroy bridges depending on which way you're traveling Hora-tius stood alone on a Wooden bridge across the Tiber defending Rome against King Porsena of Etruria His two companions slain Horatius fought while Romans broke the WAITING FOR THESfjADE -Joel Gopan of Hampden leans on the hood of one of his restored 1942 vintage jeeps This jeep and a Korean War era jeep will be featured in the Veterans Remembrance Bridge parade bridge up behind him Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery set out to capture several bridges in a wild and futile attempt to shorten the Europe- of his an war in 1944 But a member staff stiff upper-lipped that "Monty" might have gone bridge too far" after losing bridges and and thousands of men did any more to put Bangor on the map than Henry Thoreau?" queried one writer Shunting all possible selections aside another writer predicted in the future that the name would be it the South Brewer Another think it right to nameihe bridge after one person It should be cailed iq honor of all those who worked- and died for peace Desperate to find out what names lurked in the hearts of local residents a NEWS reporter-photo-ispatched to I grapher team was dispatched to the streets to ask the same question Some candid replies: Gateway" South And of course Ban-gor-Brewer Bridge" As the letters continued to flood the newspaper Samantha Smith was obviously one of the top choices by many who shared the grief of her sudden death and extolled her contribution to world peace But veterans still seemed to be at the back of mind a tribute to all veterans whether they be dead or alive I suggest that the new bridge be named Maine Veterans Memorial wrote Nancy Remick of Bangor i I a Nov 11-Gopan a military history buff restores military vehicles and supplies state and local governments with parts for vehicles they have purchased from government surplus (NEWS Photo by Ken Buckley) For the time they we needed it Veterans Remembrance Bridge Dedicated to all Maine Veterans Our POWs and MIAs Bridge dedicated by WWI WWII Korean Vietnam Veterans November 11 1986 Text from plaques on Bangor and Brewer sides of the bridge touch it We placed over a mile of silt fence to protect that stream" The state paid for a 90-foot-long overpass to carry Route 1A over the Maine Central Railroad tracks on Wilson Street A few years later the railroad abandoned the route substantial amount of money been saved if that overpass been Wilcox said Since the new highway required a stable roadbed Dyer Cove was filled in and a sewage pumping station moved so that the South Main Street interchange could be built After the Bancroft Martin ing was torn down contractors hit ledge blasted 500000 yards of ledge out of the Parkway South area" Wilcox said "The Brewer job was the only job in Maine where the ledge was crushed and used as a base course under the pavement We crushed about 160000 yards of The existing 1-395 exit ramps in Bangor were closed and a new ramp was built to connect 1-395 and Farm Road Extra traffic lights were placed at Farm Road and Main Street to control the flow of vehicles onto the interstate Contractors also replaced the Main Street overpass Wilcox who lives in Newport detailed the impressive construction figures approaches required 106 million yards of common excavation 420000 yards of common borrow and 300000 yards of granular borrow We dug 300000 yards of common borrow from the northeast slope of Whiting Hill to use on the Brewer He estimated the total price tag for the approaches at $25 million Wilcox made one observation about the stretch of highway running from Parkway South to Wilson Street are a lot of deer out See $55 MILLION Page 12 EFFICIENCY from Page 1 the Maine Department of Transpor- tation has watched the steady construction progress 1-395 location was best" he commented were less much of the Bangor side was already here and better access could be gained to Route 1A in Design engineers worked on several possible connections with Wilson Street including one plan to place the interchange at the Brewer Drive-In Such factors as property-acquisition costs and quality of the subsoil influenced the final decision to connect the two highways on the southeast slope of Whiting Hill Housewreckers and surveyors worked along the proposed route before the bulldozers arrived The final count of demolished buildings stood at two in Bangor and 25 in Brewer Work on the bridge's approaches started on April 16 1983 Contractors tackled all four intersections Brewer with a vengeance and local drivers quickly learned the definition of In July the MDOT awarded the contracts for the two Wilson Street overpasses to the Yankee Construction Corp of Portland which had bid $1929 million When the bulldozers attacked Whiting HiU trouble reared its ugly head The problems discovered blue clay under Wilson Wilcox recalled we build the road on unstable clay we dug 30 feet below the surface of the hill excavated an area 50 feet wide and backfilled with granular borrow This prevented the roadbed from slipping on the Brook a meandering stream at the foot of Whiting Hill presented a major headache brook was considered a wetlands Wilcox said Lana Supply Conveyor Fabrication One of Systems LANE SUPPLY COMPANY COMPLEX One Industrial Plaza East-West Industrial Park Brewer Maine 04412 TEL 989-4560 ol the Largest Stocking Distributors Power Transmission Products Electrical Drives Controls and Conveyor in the Northeast And the time they offered when we didn't Irwin and the late-Damel Lambert state administrator for Jhe Ameri can Legion and chairman of the Maine Veterans Coordinating Committee had rbacked contention that while there were many bridges" there were no bridges When the official name was signed into law by Gov Joseph Brennan March 6 Rep John Diamond (D-Bangor) said an amendment includ- ed provisions for providing a plaque in memory of POWs and MIAs The Transportation Committee earlier that year had considered a proposal to name the bridge POW-MIA Memorial Bridge Since no money was available for the placing of the plaques Galen Cole serving as chairman sof the chamber-sponsored dedication solic ited $250 from veterans organiza tions The Isaac Clewley Post VFW of Brewer and the Norman Dow Post VFW of Bangor contrib uted enough money for the place ment of a plaque at each end of the bridge Because there no walkways on this bridge concern already has been voiced that noone will see them The plaques however carry the name of the donating post in small print But the message that will be unveiled simultaneously on Nov 11 makes it clear no veteran is forgotton Lane Supply Company Salaa Offices Warehouse Hackatt Machine Company Machine Shop Div ol Lane Supply E-ww i'l ii i mi 41 Acme Road PARKWAY REALTY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION CENTURY 21 PARKWAY REALTY 49 Acme Road Brewer Maine 04412 TEL 989-4968 WE SALUTE MAINE'S VETERANS Trucking Company Jnc Division atlon Dlvlsl McKenzie general manager Bangor Daily News plowed through the suggestions trying to find a name that would be supported by a majority of the people The committee finally decided that the name for the bridge should reflect a memorial for all veterans not just those from any specific war Their final decision was Veterans Memorial Bridge and they sent it to for approval the Maine Legislature I However Senate and House representatives agreed in March to a compromise with Sen Edgar Irwin of Rumford who agreed to withdraw his bill if the word was included In January Irwin had mildly opposed the word during Transportation Committee hearings about the naming of the bridge His bill proposed that the bridge be named: Veterans Remembrance gave when Bangor Gardiner Presque Isle Lewiston Portland VETERANS J-dto Company LP-sCgIS ml We're American And We've Never Settled for Second Best Co III I 49 Acme Road La 43 Acme Road To all the men and women who have served to those who have given the supreme sacrifice we stand in salute A Your eternal dedication to being the BEST is a sound basis for our country's greatness Maine State Department 0 S1 -WWjI A DISABLED AMERICAN ACME OFFICE 'VRK COMPLEX New Professional fice Pa located on Acme Road (Behind the Brewer Ppst Office) A convenient office space alternative in this Progressive City Byron Adams Jr Commander 1 024 Sabattus St Lewiston I.