SEDGWICK — The Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) plans to do maintenance work on the 74-year-old Deer Isle-Sedgwick Bridge this upcoming summer.

The DOT will hold a public hearing Tuesday, March 12, at 6 p.m. at the Deer Isle Town Hall to discuss the project.

The DOT invites residents and/or bridge travelers to ask questions or share concerns.

Project Manager Stephen Bodge said the work entails several maintenance tasks that the DOT’s bridge maintenance crew can’t keep up with. So, the DOT will go out to bid on the work in April.

“There’s some bolts that need to be tightened up,” Bodge said. “There’s some bolts that need to be replaced. Some steel needs to be replaced. At this time, it’s mostly just general maintenance type things.”

The bridge was inspected in 2011, which led to last year’s repainting and repair of two deep piers, Bodge said.

“We’d like to make it last a long time if we can,” Bodge said. “It’s an important bridge to us.”

The maintenance work would be done this summer and fall.

The DOT is evaluating how the work would affect traffic.

“We’re evaluating right now which activities are going to force us to need a lane,” Bodge said. “For obvious reasons we’re going to limit that as much as we can.”

The bridge was built in 1939.

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