Quote:
Originally Posted by Djeffery
Cool bridge. I think this was still the TCH the last time I drove down that way. If I remember right, this piece to the north of Woodstock was one of the last sections that wasn't 4 laned. But I could be wrong.
|
The Hugh John Flemming Bridge. It is a beautiful bridge, but I think it's overdue for a major overhaul. There was reluctance to do the overhaul last I heard because it would need a full closure and there was worries about services across the river. (Most of Hartland is on the east side of the river, but the regional hospital and the TCH is now routed on the west side). *Googling it seems the work may have been done back in 2010... Damn where has the time gone?*
And while this wasn't the final twinned section (that honor belongs to the Quebec border to Edmundston stretch I believe), it was one of the final sections, because it was a complete new build. From Hartland to Florenceville, they built the new alignment on the west side of the river, whereas before it crossed the river at those locations; thus saving the cost of four major bridges (as the existing bridges would not meet modern highway standards). The valley is more spread out at Florenceville so the bridge wouldn't have been as high, but the Hartland valley walls are very high where the old TCH routed, as you can see from the pics above, so that would have been a major bridge pair, probably on pair with the bridges crossing the Saint John south of Fredericton (and again crossing at Jemseg).