The center span is gone. Driving north on Route 1 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire got a little more exciting. You can’t do it! As part of the demolition of the Memorial Bridge over the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth, the 2-million pound center span was lowered onto a barge and is destined for Boston Harbor where it will be dismantled and assembled. The next, and fascinating part for me will be the removal of the massive concrete weights that can be seen high up in the bridge structure. I haven’t seen any discussions on the plans for those weights, but I am keeping my eye out.
- London Bridge at Lake Havasu
The decision to recycle the bridge components comes after a search for someone to reuse the structure. Perhaps someone would choose to buy the bridge, for a nominal fee, and then rebuild it over some big western reservoir. Unfortuately, our Memorial Bridge, while beautiful and historic to us, did not provoke the same feelings in others, at least not enough to “have bridge will travel.” It did not have the same allure as say the London Bridge. In Lake Havasau, Arizona, there is an entire resort village built around London Bridge. Now that’s reuse. I have a great photo of Memorial Bridge taken on a foggy day. I know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I guess I will have to be content with knowing that the bridge, while a classic to me, will live on in whatever project receives its material .
