[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 95 (Friday, June 8, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING THE RIBBON CUTTING OF THE NEW SARAH MILDRED LONG BRIDGE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CHELLIE PINGREE

                                of maine

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 8, 2018

  Ms. PINGREE. Mr. Speaker, as Representative for Maine's 1st 
Congressional District, I rise to mark a historic occasion in my home 
state. Today is the official ribbon cutting of the newly built Sarah 
Mildred Long Bridge.
  This span is one of three critical connections between Portsmouth, 
New Hampshire, and Kittery, Maine. Its predecessor, built in 1940, 
carried thousands of people between our states every day, bore a rail 
line used to refuel submarines at the Navy's Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, 
and lifted to make way for marine traffic on the mighty Piscataqua 
River.
  Retired after 76 years, that structure did these jobs well. But the 
one dedicated today is designed to do them even better and last an 
incredible 125 years. It was built by the hardworking men and women of 
Maine company Cianbro Corp., with the oversight of the Maine Department 
of Transportation and its counterparts at the New Hampshire Department 
of Transportation. It should be noted that a $25 million grant from the 
federal Transportation Infrastructure Generating Economic Recovery 
program helped bring the costs of this sizeable project within reach.
  A time capsule bearing this statement, along with other mementos of 
2018, will be buried with instructions to open in 125 years. Until 
then, may this bridge serve our communities well and bear current and 
future generations of travelers safely to their destinations.

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