The center span of the now-closed Sarah Mildred Long Bridge in Portsmouth will be removed next week — depending on the weather.
The Portsmouth Herald reports that a senior project manager at Cianbro Corporation, the general contractor for the bridge replacement project, says a barge will be floated underneath the center span at low tide on Oct. 14. The incoming tide will lift the barge until it connects with the center span and the span is disconnected from the bridge.
The bridge connected Portsmouth to Kittery, Maine via the U.S. Route 1 Bypass before it malfunctioned in August. The span has since been locked in its open position and was closed permanently on Aug. 24.
The bridge's $158 million replacement is expected to open to traffic in September 2017.
