MDOT plans to replace Frank J. Wood Bridge this year
MaineDOT is moving the Frank J. Wood Bridge replacement toward construction this year, with the 1932 crossing now expected to be replaced for $33.5 million.
The Frank J. Wood Bridge between Brunswick and Topsham has been closed to commercial traffic since November 2021, including fire trucks and school buses, and MaineDOT now says the replacement project’s expected cost has risen to $33.5 million. The U.S. Route 201 crossing over the Androscoggin River will stay in construction mode until a new span opens.
The bridge was built in 1932, and it is fracture-critical and in poor condition. MaineDOT began the process to improve the crossing in 2014, while a federal court record dates the project’s start to 2015. Other crossings exist through the bypass route and I-295, but the bridge remains a key everyday link for people moving between the two river towns.
A new Federal Highway Administration draft found that rehabilitating the bridge would cost much more than replacing it. MaineDOT Commissioner Bruce Van Note has framed the decision as one about keeping the crossing safe and reliable for the public rather than preserving the old structure at any cost.
Friends of the Frank J. Wood Bridge, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Historic Bridge Foundation sued to stop the project in 2019, but a federal district judge denied their request for an injunction. The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the replacement plan in January 2025, and MaineDOT counted that ruling as the eighth court decision since 2020 supporting replacement.
MaineDOT awarded the replacement contract to Reed & Reed, Inc. of Woolwich in February 2023 for $49.9 million, and crews began work on site that April. All contract work was scheduled to finish in late 2026, with the new bridge expected to open to traffic before then.
The replacement is designed to last at least 100 years and will include sidewalks on both sides, pedestrian viewing bump-outs, wider shoulders, parks on both ends, special railings and lighting. The alignment is intended to preserve views of Pejepscot Falls.
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