page_title: Bailey Island Bridge
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: Bailey Island Bridge / Design
caption_attribution_description: Bailey Island Bridge, Harpswell, Maine, USA. Photograph taken during bridge reconstruction.
context_page_description: The Bailey Island Bridge is a historic bridge in the town of Harpswell within Cumberland County in the state of Maine.
context_section_description: Design of the 1,150-foot bridge was complicated by the tides in the area known as Will's Gut. It was decided to build a cobwork bridge, using granite slabs as cribstones, acquired from local quarries in nearby Yarmouth, Maine.  The slabs, longer than they are wide, are laid horizontally, first lengthwise, and then crosswise, in several layers. No mortar or cement is used. Granite slabs were considered sufficiently heavy to withstand wind and wave, while the open cribbing allowed the tide to ebb and flow freely without increasing tidal current to any great degree.
  Some 10,000 tons of granite were used in the project. A concrete road (now part of Route 24) was built on top of the cribstones.
caption: Cribstones used in the cobwork construction of the bridge
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