Prospect - The Waldo-Hancock Bridge carries 81 years of memories. To locals like Bud Hand of Carmel, the old steel bridge is more than just a means of travel.

"My wife and I skipped school in 1949 on a beautiful spring day, like a lot of people like to do, and we came down here and we flew paper airplanes off the bridge for about two hours," said Hand.

He was there when the old bridge closed and he was there for the opening of the new Penobscot Narrows Bridge.

On Tuesday, he made sure to be there for the beginning of this old bridge's end.

"[It's a] very significant day for the historical portion of this removal project for the Waldo-Hancock Bridge," said Doug Coombs, Assistant Project Manager for Maine DOT.

DOT crews removed the second of two flagpoles on Tuesday that stood tall on top of each of the bridge's towers. One of the flagpoles will be donated to the town of Prospect, the other to the town of Verona.

Coombs said, "The towns themselves will be re-erecting these after they go to a DOT bridge maintenance lot and will actually be sand blasted and repainted. The towns will be able to pick them up and erect them in a place of prominence."

That way some parts of this historic bridge will be preserved.

"We love this bridge. It's a sad thing for us to see it go, but it's served its purpose," said Hand.

The structure will be slowly taken down piece by piece. DOT is hoping to have everything down by the end of June 2013.

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