Varney Bridge reopens in Windham following replacement

By Ed Pierce

The contractor replacing Varney Bridge in Windham has completed work about three weeks ahead of schedule and the bridge has been reopened.

Construction to replace Varney's Bridge on
William Knight Road over the Pleasant River
in Windham has been completed three weeks
ahead of schedule and the bridge has been
reopened. Work to demolish and replace the
aging 26-foot steel girder bridge began there
on June 15. PHOTO BY KEITH MANK

Wyman & Simpson, Inc. started work to demolish and replace the 26-foot steel girder bridge on William Knight Road over the Pleasant River on June 15. Work on the bridge was expected to last until Oct. 13 but was finished last week.

While making repairs on the bridge in 2015, engineers from the Maine Department of Transportation recommended that the town explore options for closing or replacing the bridge because of ongoing structural deterioration. MaineDOT engineers reported that capacity issues and faster and heavier loads stressed this type of bridge past its original design parameters.

Typically, steel girder bridges can be more expensive than other types of bridges because of the rising cost of materials and for construction and this type of bridge may not be suitable for very heavy loads and may not be able to support the weight of heavy vehicles. MaineDOT engineers found issues with the bridge’s concrete abutments and reduced the allowable load to three tons.

That made it not possible for construction trucks, dump trucks, garbage trucks, and other large vehicles to cross the bridge because of the weight limitation. Town snowplows had to stop, turn around and go the other way due to their weight.

With concrete abutments supporting the old steel bridge structure, scouring from the river caused erosion where the concrete touched the Pleasant River water degraded the bridge’s safety. There was also rusting on the steel supports which need to be replaced.

Varney’s Bridge was originally built in 1950 and it had been upgraded and repaired many times over the past three decades with its structural issues persisting and continuing to worsen. In 2021 members of the Windham Town Council voted to replace the existing bridge with the most cost-effective method to ensure the safety of the community upon the recommendation of the town manager. At the Annual Windham Town Meeting in June 2021, Windham residents approved spending $25,000 for a study at the Annual Town Meeting about how to best move forward to replace the aging structure.

The study was completed in the summer of 2022, and the results were forwarded to the MaineDOT. Using the MaineDOT Bridge Program Design Guide, a preliminary design report was created and mandated that any other survey work needed to define right-of-way and bridge layout and alignment be performed and any geotechnical engineering evaluations required to design a new bridge support structure be initiated.

In January 2023, the new Maine DOT Three-Year Plan for upcoming projects by state crews was released. MaineDOT authorized $1.5 million in funding for the $2.2 million project with the town picking up the remaining $700,000 for the project.

The Town of Windham then developed preliminary and final design plans in accordance with MaineDOT standards and requirements. Those design plans included a specific plan for the project, a bridge profile including cross-sections and geometry for approach design, design computations, load ratings, and evaluation information for the new structure meeting MaineDOT specifications. All of that included development of an engineering estimate of construction costs and creating a final plan for review by the state. 

At Windham’s Annual Town Meeting in June 2023, a warrant item was approved by voters to contribute $700,000 to complete the bridge replacement project. MaineDOT also conducted and documented quality control design checks and provided engineering support during the competitive bidding process and any other additional services as was requested by the town.

Windham Town Councilors put the project out to bidding in November 2025 and awarded the project to Wyman & Simpson, Inc. for the town’s portion of costs in general obligation bond funding for replacing Varney’s Bridge. Seven bids had been submitted to replace the bridge.

When the bridge work started in June 2026 it was estimated at the time it could take up to 120 days to complete. The reconstruction work required a full road closure on William Knight Road and local detours were put in place for traffic and emergency vehicles.

The bridge was reopened to the public on Sept. 17. <