Friday, February 6, 2009—We heard a hint that there might be some citizens hereabouts who want to save Memorial Bridge, home to the bronze eagle shown here. The officials in charge of such things seem ready to spend eighteen months and two million dollars studying the bridge, with an eye to scrapping it.
Since we’re already in the process of trying to expand our distribution into Kittery, and since the loss of the bridge would represent an additional obstacle in that already formidable task, we have compiled a list of links to all the relevant news stories we could find on the topic of the bridge, in the belief that they would be useful. The link is at the bottom of the list at the upper left, or you could just click here.
Meanwhile, anyone with suggestions as to where we ought to be distributing in Kittery is invited to leave a comment at the bottom of our Kittery Distribution Wish List post.
The Memorial Bridge design is as obsolete as the early 20th-century vehicles it was designed to carry. It is narrow, weakened by age, given to malfunction, and the grid floor is dangerous for motorcycles. Why not replace that old cobweb of rusting steel trusses with a better looking, contemporary lift bridge adapted for modern uses, while retaining both its ornamental eagle plaque and name Memorial Bridge? Form follows function, particularly in the engineering world, and safe passage of Route 1 across the Piscataqua River requires more than a creaky relic held together by paint, corrosion and misguided nostalgia.
I just wanted to let you know that I support Saving Memorial Bridge–this Portsmouth native has been over that beloved landmark many times. I’m in North Carolina now, but call Portsmouth home! Good Luck!