Cribstone Bridge

Cobwork Bridge, locally known at the Cribstone Bridge, was built in 1927 and 1928 of granite supports with openings allowing the strong tides to pass through Will’s Gut. The bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 for Engineering and Transportation Areas of Significance.

In 1924, residents voted to approve the construction of the Bailey Island Bridge (known locally as the Cribstone Bridge), connecting Orr’s and Bailey islands across Will’s Gut. The vote itself was narrowly won, following over a decade of bitter debate on the issue.

In May 1913, a special town meeting had been organized to resolve the question of whether a bridge was required to connect the two islands. Records show that more voters turned out for this meeting than any previously recorded in the town’s history.

The subject had been voted on first in 1872 and again in 1880, both times being defeated because of construction costs and the uncertainty of the lifespan of such a bridge. In 1913 the motion was again defeated 179 to 167. When the motion passed 254-251 in 1924, it took the Maine Supreme Court to review the ballots and declare the matter settled. Pre-construction planning began that year.

Spanning nearly 1,200 feet between Orr’s and Bailey islands, the Bailey Island Bridge construction was completed in 1928. It utilized a 1923 design by Llewellyn N. Edwards, the Maine State Highway Bridge Engineer at the time. Frank W. Carleton of Woolwich was hired to build the bridge, which required 14,000 tons of granite slabs from Carleton’s quarries in Yarmouth. The stone was shipped on barges to the construction site and unloaded with steam-powered cranes.

To allow for the passage of tides through the channel and over intertidal ledges, the stone slabs were fitted together in an interlocking cob-style, first lengthwise, then crosswise without the use of mortar. To span the channel, where no ledge is exposed, concrete pillars were constructed to support a 52-foot iron overpass. The roadway that crossed the entire 1,200-foot length was made of reinforced concrete.

The only known granite cribstone bridge in the world, the Bailey Island Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and was named as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1984.