pressherald.com · September 8, 2026
Maine DOT shares video of Old Town bridge collapse
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# Maine DOT shares video of Old Town bridge collapse
The Llewellyn Estes Bridge was under construction when part of it collapsed last month, injuring three workers.
Posted 5:40 PM Updated at 7:30 PM
Drew Johnson Staff Writer
The Maine Department of Transportation shared a video Tuesday of last month’s partial collapse of an under-construction bridge in Old Town.
The video shows one span of the bridge collapsing just before 1:44 p.m. on Aug. 13. The collapse occurred while workers were pouring cement for the bridge deck, according to Maine DOT.
Three workers were injured as a result, according to local public safety officials. One was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and the two others were treated and released at the scene. All three injured were construction contractors, according to the Maine DOT.
While it is still investigating to determine the cause of the collapse, the department announced a new FAQ page about the project and incident on Tuesday.
“Observations to-date indicate that the failure likely involved buckling of the outermost girder on the upstream side of the bridge span, followed by an immediate cascading failure of the adjacent girders,” one of the answers includes, but an official cause will be determined through further engineering and analysis.
Maine DOT and contractors from Woolwich-based Reed & Reed Inc. began work on the new bridge in 2023. A temporary bridge has been installed alongside it.
In its FAQ, Maine DOT says it does not yet know how much of a delay the collapse may cause nor any extra costs associated with it.
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