The 60 Hour Veranda Street Bridge Project in Portland Condensed to Under 4 Minutes

Watch this incredible 60-hour project get done in three and a half minutes!

I think the only thing that got talked about more than the Veranda Plan was the Tiger King. They had to talk about this a lot. They were going to shut down part of I295 spanning over four days. The Veranda Street Bridge runs over Veranda Street in Portland. They had to replace it, because the original bridge was built in 1961 and, after 60 years of heavy use, it was in bad shape. An inspection back in 2017 found it was in satisfactory to poor condition and is structurally deficient. So they came up with the best, least expensive way to replace it. This is a plan that had taken six years to complete. To cut costs, even more, the new improved bridge was built right next to the icky old bridge.

Chasing Maine is a video series that explores Maine from a distinct visual perspective. Veteran Maine journalist and storyteller Roger McCord follows people, places, and things that define Maine. This was an impressive project done in a historical fashion and Roger McCord condensed 60 hours of work into 3 and a half minutes of amazing video!

Now that the bridge is replaced, they are working to reconfigure and reconstruct Veranda Street between Wordsworth Street and Martin’s Point Health Care. They are adding stoplights at two intersections: Veranda Street at the I‑295 northbound off-ramp, and Veranda Street at the I‑295 southbound on-ramp. Plus, look for new pedestrian sidewalks and bike lanes too! Also, they are improving drainage so that Veranda Street won't flood.

Congrats to everyone who was involved in this project! I love that Cianbro in Pittsfield and Shaw Brothers Construction were two Maine companies that handled most of the project. Cianbro was the main contractor and Shaw Brothers was the demo company out of Gorham. The saying SHOULD be, as goes Maine so should the rest of the country. Well done!