The Butts Bridge carries Butts Bridge Road ( Connecticut Route 668) over the Quinebaug River in the town of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. It is a well-preserved example of a

Parker truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or s ...

, built in 1937, late in the state's regular use of steel truss bridge designs. The bridge is also known as Bridge No. 1649 and carries an average of 2,300 vehicles per day as of 2011. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2010.

Description and history

The Butts Bridge is located in a rural setting of southeastern Canterbury, spanning the Quinebaug River in a roughly east–west orientation. The bridge is a single-span steel

design that typifies truss bridges of the early automotive age. It is long, and is between the centers of the trusses. The trusses are mounted on concrete abutments, and the roadway is supported by concrete decking. The bridge is at least the fourth to stand in this general area, which has been on the route of a road between

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

and Plainfield since colonial days. Earlier wood-frame bridges and wrought iron

lenticular truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

bridges were probably located further downstream, but their sites have not been located. The bridge this one replaced in 1936-37 was located just upstream; traces of its abutments survive. This bridge was completed in 1937 by the Fort Pitt Bridge Works company using designs by the

Connecticut State Highway Department The Connecticut Department of Transportation (often referred to as CTDOT and occasionally ConnDOT, or CDOT) is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports and waterways in Connecticut. ...

. It was built as part of the Highway Department's emergency relief program after major flooding in 1936.

Gallery

File:Butts Bridge Over Quinebaug River, Canterbury, CT.JPG, Connecticut Route 668 File:View of Quinebaug from Butts Bridge, Canterbury, CT.JPG, Quinebaug River from Butts Bridge

References

External links

* Connecticut Department of Transportation
News Release: Public Information Meeting - Rehabilitation of Bridge No. 01649
October 15, 2008 {{National Register of Historic Places Bridges completed in 1936 Bridges in Windham County, Connecticut Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Canterbury, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Windham County, Connecticut Steel bridges in the United States Parker truss bridges in the United States 1936 establishments in Connecticut

Description and history

Gallery

See also

References

External links