Wicomico County Executive Richard M. Pollitt, Jr. announced today that there will be a dedication ceremony marking the recent opening of the new Wetipquin Bridge on Wicomico County’s west side. The event is scheduled for July 28th at 1:30 P.M. at the bridge. The public is welcome. Mr. Pollitt commented, “I am very pleased that we have restored bridge service to this area. It is particularly meaningful in light of the severe cuts that are now in place for funding of our Roads operations.”
The new two-lane span opened to traffic on June 19th. The previous bridge, which was over 50 years old, was closed on June 15, 2008. The replacement cost was $2.1 Million with 80% funded by the federal government.
The new bridge has the same 6-foot navigational clearance at mean high water as did its predecessor. It is 238 feet long and 24 feet wide.
According to Acting Public Works Deputy Director Edwin L. Heatwole, P.E., the new construction was “not without its challenges. We were delayed by about 5 months because of the need for longer piles at selected locations. We are glad that the motorists in that part of the county once again have a bridge.”
10 comments:
the motorist are glad as well, when the bridge was closed it took me 30 minutes to get to my friend who live 5 minutes away.
That was the biggest waste of taxpayers money.The old bridge was perfectly fine and in good condition.
80% paid for by the federal government. How long is this ponzi scheme going to last. The federal government is trillions in debt and still providing aid to every tom, dick, and harry in this country plus giving away billions in foreign aid. We are the laughing stock of the world. We will soon be living like the people in third world countries. Just keep on spending like there is no tomorrow and see how long it can possibly last. If I'm wrong I'd like for someone to explain why.
The bridge is beautiful, and people can still fish and crab from it....But what about the boat docks at the foot of the Bridge that are falling apart and unusable...When is someone going to clean this up...This is not safe and has to be unhealth for sea life
You can catch some decent crabs off that bridge too sometimes...
i guess you never saw a school bus go across that bridge. when the bus went across it swayed and looked like it was going to come down. i had heard that the bus driver would speed up and go a littler faster on the bridge so that the bus was not on it as long in case the bridge was going to collapse.
Pollitt did not announce anything he is on vacation. AGAIN
I'm not quite sure I would agree that the bridge even needed replaced. It is not subjected to that much traffic and a good repair would have probably been sufficient.
None of you know what you are talking about. The bridge was very old. It technically was rebuilt because some greedy person upcreek wanted it raised so he could get his yacht under it, and the coast guard bought into it, so the only way it could stay the same height was to leave certain elements in place. As for the old wooden docks next to the bridge, these caused some delay in the design phase because it was claimed that they were built by "African American Pioneers". Yeah, try to touch those. I guess if the old bridge fell in, then the same people would be saying " why didn't they fix it". Those of you who said the old one was okay, have you really seen the old one? You must be friggin blind. The boards would jump up and down when you went over it. It had an old metal plate down the middle that would work loose often. The pilings were rotting. You guys need to get a life.
According to Acting Deputy Director Edwin Heatwole...... Isnt this the guy that was being grilled at a council meeting about wasteful spending on that new road? I would have thought he would have been canned some time ago. Thats about all he is,....an actor.
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