Penobscot Narrows Bridge
PHOTO COURTESY OF MAINE DOT
PHOTO COURTESY OF MAINE DOT
PHOTO COURTESY OF MAINE DOT
PHOTO COURTESY OF MAINE DOT
Prospect-Verona Island, Maine
Fall 2003 – Winter 2004, Fall 2011
The client: Maine Department of Transportation
The project:A new 2,119-foot cable-stay bridge and approaches to replace a 1931 bridge, which connects the town of Prospect to the island community of Verona and Bucksport, Maine. The new bridge includes two towers – both rise 420 feet above the water – and an observatory. The $84 million project progressed from conception to completion in just 42 months, putting tremendous pressure on the mapping, surveying, and design phases.
In the fall of 2011, Maine Department of Transportation needed an updated basemap to guide the engineering and construction firm hired to plan and carry out the dismantling of the 80-year-old Waldo-Hancock Bridge safely, and with minimal impact on traffic and wildlife.
Our work:An integral part of the first phase of this project, Kappa Mapping produced engineering-grade mapping of 1”=50’ with 1’ contours so Maine DOT engineers and consultants could begin the complicated process of designing and building the new bridge and bridge approaches around the existing bridge – while keeping it open to traffic. We orthorectified the images using the compiled digital terrain model and mosaicked the ortho images into a seamless, color-balanced image. Since late fall color photography often presents challenges – dull colors and long shadows created by the sun’s low angle – Kappa used sophisticated image enhancement technology to bring out detail in shadows and to intensify colors.
As a contributing partner in the fall 2011 phase of the project, Kappa coordinated a new flight over the two bridges for the Maine DOT, and re-mapped the bridges and surrounding area providing an up to date basemap to aid the engineering and construction firm plan the safe dismantling of the Waldo Hancock Bridge.
