Pictures

Here are the covered bridges I visited over the weekend:

Wednesday:

High Mowing Farm

This is a non-historic bridge in Wilmington that was built in 1949 to access farmland.

Cheddar Bridge in Grafton at Grafton Village Cheese Co.

This is another non-historic bridge and the kingpost design does not support the decking, only the sides and roof.

Kidder Hill Bridge in Grafton

Built in 1870 and renovated around 1995.  It has unusual side beams going across the length to protect it.

Warren Bridge, Warren

Built in 1880 and renovated in 2000.  It's in a very picturesque setting on a village road less than a half mile from busy Route 100.

Village Bridge, Waitsfield

 1833, one of the oldest bridges in Vermont.  It was renovated in 1992 and 2001.
 

The Burr truss design is one of my favorites.

Pine Brook Bridge, Waitsfield

1872, rehabbed in 1989.  I like this one because it's unpretentious and used only by locals on a dirt country road.

Brown's River Bridge, Westford

This bridge was built in 1838 but was neglected for decades after it was bypassed by a modern bridge.  It was closed to pedestrian traffic in 1987 and not restored until 2001.

Maple Street Bridge, Fairfax

Another unpretentious bridge, sitting right in the middle of a quiet neighborhood.  Built in 1865 and rehabbed in 2002 after a truck was driven through it.  It has a lot of graffiti on it from local kids.

Gates Farm Bridge, Cambridge

It's a weird sight to see this beautiful bridge just off the highway leading to a corn field.  The bridge was originally built in 1897 but was relocated to the farm in 1950 to provide access to the land after a stream was diverted.  It was extensively renovated in 1995 and is in excellent condition.

Thursday:

Scriber Bridge, Johnson

This bridge was built in 1919 and is about 2 miles off the main highway, on a dirt road.  It seems pretty original, with its missing boards.  This is another of the many unpretentious covered bridges in Vermont that serves its function without any fanfare or flair.

Lord's Creek Bridge, Irasburg

This is a sad example of a bridge that has deteriorated and will fall apart without a complete restoration.  It was moved to a private farm in 1958 and has not been updated since.  The siding has been removed, which will expose the timbers to more rot.  The decking appears rotted and steel beams have been placed across each side to attempt to stabilize it.

Irasburg Covered Bridge, Irasburg

The original bridge was built in 1881 but destroyed by arsonists on Halloween Night 1997.  It's located in an attractive setting on a country road.

River Road Bridge, Troy

Built in 1910 this bridge has had some recent updates that make it stand out.  It's also located in a rural area and is the northernmost bridge in Vermont.  It overlooks a swimming hole.

Fuller Bridge, Montgomery

Montgomery has 6 covered bridges, most were constructed by the same builders, the Jewitt Brothers.  It was built in 1890 and rehabbed in the early 2000's.

Comstock Bridge, Montgomery

1883, it looks like it has been renovated in the last 10 years

Creamery Bridge, Montgomery

 This bridge was originally built in 1883 and was next to a creamery and furniture factory.  The guidebooks I had said this bridge was falling apart and nearly abandoned.  It's located on a rough dirt road that you would probably need 4wd to access. 

I was happy to see that bridge has been completely restored.  The area does appear to be abandoned, though it once had 49 active farms.

The remains of the old creamery are still visible.

The remote location has made this bridge the target of vandals, including those from the motorcycling community.

Hutchins Bridge, Montgomery

This bridge was built in 1883 and restored within the last 10 years.  Its treatment is a testament to the esteem Vermont holds its bridges.  It's located on a very rough dirt road, that dead ends.  I'm not sure anyone even lives on it.  There are no signs for the bridge (very few covered bridges have any kind of signage for tourists) so it's doubtful anyone but locals knows of its location.

Longely Bridge, Montgomery

This bridge was built in 1863, renovated in 1992 but is in serious need of repair.  It has a noticeable lean with many notations in chalk of sections of rotting and cracked boards.

Hopkins Bridge, Enosburg

This is another bridge built by the Jewett Brothers, just over the Montgomery town line.  It was originally built in 1875 and rebuilt in 1999.  It's located just off Route 118 but only accesses a field.

East Fairfield Bridge, Fairfield

Originally built in 1865 it has been restored within the last 10 years.  It had been closed to vehicular traffic for about 15 years before repairs could be made.

Friday:

Emily's Bridge, Stowe

This bridge serves a dirt road, just east of Route 100.  It was built in 1844 and still in excellent condition without any major restoration work in the recent past.

Fisher Railroad Bridge, Wolcott

This is a massive bridge built in 1908 for the St. Johnsbury and Lamoille County Railroad.  It has a cupola on top to allow the smoke from the steam engines to escape.  There were trains running across the bridge until the last several years.  The tracks on either side of it have been ripped up.  (You can find a video of a train going across it on Youtube.)  The bridge has been shored up with steel beams and the siding has been separated from the decking so the Town Lattice design only supports the sides and roof.  There is only one other covered railroad bridge in Vermont.  These are well worth the time for a visit to see how early engineers used wood to support heavy weights.

Greenbanks Hollow Bridge, Danville

This bridge is located in an area that once contained a company town supporting a woolen mill.  When the mill burned in 1885 it took the rest of the town with it and the whole area was abandoned.  Many of the old cellar holes are still labeled and visible today.  This bridge was restored about 10 years ago and in beautiful condition.

Chamberlin Bridge, Lyndon

Lyndon has 5 covered bridges in its vicinity.  This bridge was built in 1881 and the remains of a mill are visible right on the river bank.

School House Bridge, Lyndon

This 1879 bridge was bypassed in 1971 when Interstate 91 was completed.  Its unusual feature is the complete covering of the interior trusses, which could have been an attempt to prevent the local kids from climbing into the rafters.

Miller's Run Bridge, Lyndon

This 1878 bridge serves a very active street, making the walkway a necessity for pedestrians.  It was reconstructed in 1995 to support the weight of the traffic.  There are steel beams hidden underneath so that the trusses no longer support the decking.

Sanborn Bridge, Lyndon

This is another sad bridge that was moved onto private land and has been deteriorating since then.  The bridge was built in 1867 and slated to be torn down in 1960.  The owner of a local motel offered to take it and it was moved to the Lyneburke Motel.  It doesn't appear to have had any major updates since then.  One end has a building inside that at one time was used as a real estate office.  The walkway is now used for a snowmobile trail.

Despite its condition it has more originality than most other bridges.  You can still read some of the old advertisements inside.

snake oil elixir for pain

Randall Bridge, Lyndon

This 1865 bridge is also in poor condition.  There is a sign from 2006 saying it's structurally unsafe, though it is still being used as a snowmobile trail.  It has visible sagging and attempts made at repair.

Columbia Bridge, Lemington, VT

This bridge sits on the Connecticut River in far northern Vermont.  This is not far from the source of the Connecticut and you could nearly throw a rock across the river from here.

It was built in 1912 and renovated in 1981.  It's in excellent condition and in the kind of setting that would be perfect for a picnic.

Mount Orne Bridge, Lunenburg, VT

This bridge is several miles south of the Columbia Bridge.  I'd been looking forward to seeing this one for a long time; there aren't too many double spanned covered bridges anymore.

Sadly, this bridge is closed.

A truck driver tried to drive his rig through the New Hampshire side last year and heavily damaged the roof.  While the trucking company's insurance paid for the damage an inspection revealed a number of other structural problems with the bridge, which was built in 1911 and last renovated in 1983.  With budget cuts to the federal government funding for this project seems in doubt.  There was no work being done on it while I was there during the work week.

I crammed a lot of bridges into 3 days of riding.  It gave me a chance to see some extraordinary sections of Vermont.  I'll post some more pictures of those next.