Bailey Island Cribstone Bridge
Paul VanDerWerf from Brunswick, Maine
Two massive storms hit Maine’s coast hard in January 2024, causing millions of dollars of damage to coastal infrastructure, including to a bridge built to withstand the power of the ocean. The Bailey Island Bridge, also known as the Cribstone Bridge, was constructed in 1927–28 as a masterstroke of engineering conceived by Otisfield native and University of Maine graduate, Llewellyn N. Edwards.
Edwards, a bridge engineer for the Maine State Highway Commission, had worked as a bridge designer for railroad companies and served as a captain in the Corps of Engineers during World War I. According to local legend, when faced with the need for a bridge to span Will’s Gut between Bailey and Orr’s islands that could handle swift tidal flow, violent storms, and ice strikes, Edwards got an idea for an open-crib design from a bridge he had seen in Scotland.
Without using mortar or cement, the bridge’s foundation is made up of 175 locally quarried granite slabs laid crisscross on a natural rock shelf that allows the tidal currents to flow freely through it. With 10,000 tons of granite, it weighs enough to withstand ocean storms and ice floes. The bridge is believed to be the only one of its kind in the United States and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark
While climate change’s more powerful storms are putting the structure to the test – the January 2024 storms shifted some of the stones that later had to be reset – the bridge continues to demonstrate the durability of its unusual design and is one of the defining landmarks of the Midcoast.
Author: Stephanie Bouchard
