How Long Will Sarah Mildred Long Bridge Stay Open?

Geno Marconi, director of the Division of New Hampshire Ports and Harbors, is reluctant to talk about the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge's poor condition.

“I can’t speak to that because I’m not an engineer,” he said.

What he can say for sure is that when the middle lift span was stuck for nearly five days in January, it created a costly situation for the maritime traffic that needs to travel up and down the Piscataqua River to reach several terminals in Newington.

“It costs money” when vessels are delayed, Marconi said. “It can cost thousands and thousands and thousands per day.”

Such a situation can also deter businesses from hiring cargo ships to transport their goods in and out of Portsmouth Harbor, he said.

“It is a concern, not only for myself, but the terminal operators up the river,” said Marconi.

Marconi said the general consumer suffers as well, especially in the winter when demand is highest for home heating oil, propane and kerosene.

He said there are several terminals located beyond the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge up river in Portsmouth and Newington that include:

• National Gypsum Co. and Irving Oil, which share a terminal.
• Public Service of New Hampshire, which uses its terminal to off load coal and oil for the Schiller Station power plant.
• SubCom, a division of Tyco, which off-loads fiber optic cables.
• Shaftmaster Fishery uses its terminal for its fleet of offshore lobster boats and mid-water trawlers.
• The Patterson Lane terminal is shared by Sprague Energy and Sea-3, Inc., which imports and distributes propane.
• Sprague Energy's River Road terminal handles multiple cargo for Georgia Pacific, road salt for Morton Salt, and liquid cargo such as asphalt.

New Hampshire Department of Transportation officials maintain the bridge will remain open until the new Sarah Mildred Long Bridge is constructed in 2017.

"The NH Department of Transportation has estimated the remaining life of the Sarah Long Bridge at five to seven years," wrote Bill Boynton, the DOT's public information officer, in an e-mail.

Jeff Folsom, the Maine Department of Transportation project manager for the new bridge, believes the current span will remain open until the new bridge is constructed.

"I do think it will last and it will serve traffic as long as we need it to," he said.

He added that it will require increased maintenance funding to keep the current bridge open to motor vehicle and marine traffic for the next four years.

"You can keep something going as long as you have to," Folsom added.

In four years, the Maine Department of Transportation is scheduled to complete the new $172 million Sarah Mildred Long Bridge with a wider lift span that will be able to accommodate larger vessels that cannot travel up river now.

New Hampshire DOT officials were able to reach an agreement with Maine DOT officials in May to go with a design that calls for a wider span so larger ships can navigate it. The new bridge is scheduled to be completed in 2017. So far, the state agency has selected the design firm Figg Engineering of Harrisburg, Pa., for the project.

"The design will be ready," Boynton wrote in his e-mail. "Funding to construct it is a big question." Boynton said the New Hampshire Legislature still has to appropriate half of the $172 million before it can begin.

In addition to the most recent bridge shut down in January, the bridge was closed several other times in 2012 because of mechanical issues with the lift span. The bridge closed in February 2012 after the lift span experienced electrical problems. The bridge closed again on March 1, 2012 after the lift span experienced another electrical problem. The bridge closed again on June 25, 2012 following a lightning strike.

Public Service of New Hampshire officials are very concerned about the current bridge and the new bridge that will be constructed.

"PSNH has participated in meetings regarding the bridge and its future. It is critical that work proceeds in a manner that ensures the shipping lane is not closed for prolonged periods of time," said PSNH spokesman Martin Murray in a prepared statement.

Murray said PSNH officials also remain optimistic "that solutions to long range issues will be found that satisfy everyone's needs."

New Hampshire Department of Transportation officials closed the Memorial Bridge permanently in July 2011 six months ahead of the beginning of the new Memorial Bridge project because of safety concerns.

Marconi said he has worked for some ports in Canada and other parts of the U.S. where bridges had to be permanently closed to motor vehicle traffic and their middle lift spans permanently raised to accommodate large vessels.