Bartonsville covered bridge 10-25-2013 10-40-28 AM

The Bartonsville Covered Bridge is a wooden

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

in the village of Bartonsville, in

Rockingham, Vermont Rockingham is a Town in Windham County, on the southeastern Vermont border in the United States, along the Connecticut River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,832. Rockingham includes the incorporated villages of Bellows Falls and Sa ...

, United States. The bridge is a

lattice truss A lattice bridge is a form of truss bridge that uses many small, closely spaced diagonal elements forming a lattice. The lattice Truss Bridge was patented in 1820 by architect Ithiel Town. Originally a design to allow a substantial bridge to be ma ...

style with a 151-foot span, carrying Lower Bartonsville Road over the Williams River. It was built in 2012, replacing a similar bridge built in 1870 by Sanford Granger. The 1870 bridge, which 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 ...

, was destroyed in 2011 in flooding caused by

Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2011 At ...

History

The bridge was built after the great flood of 1869 that changed the course of the river, replacing another covered bridge about 1/4 mile up the road where the river used to flow. The bridge is listed on the

. It was located on Lower Bartonsville Road, a paved road a short distance north from

Vermont Route 103 Vermont Route 103 (VT 103) is a north–south state highway in southern Vermont, United States. It runs from U.S. Route 5 (US 5) in Rockingham in the east to US 7 in Clarendon near Rutland in the west. The Vermont Country Store's second branc ...

. Nearby, to the east, is the

Worrall Covered Bridge The Worrall Covered Bridge, also known as the Woralls Bridge is a wooden covered bridge carrying Williams Road across the Williams River in Rockingham, Vermont, United States. Built about 1870, it is the only surviving 19th-century covered bridg ...

, also built by Granger. In the 1960s, a Town of Rockingham gravel truck fell through the bridge cutting off cars from Lower Bartonsville Village from the direct link to Vermont Route 103 until the floor was replaced. In the early 1980s extensive renovations were conducted on the bridge, including replacing the

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

on the north side of the bridge, reinforcing the original stone abutments on the south side of the bridge, and replacing the roof and the weathered siding.

Destruction by Hurricane Irene and replacement

On August 28, 2011, the bridge was destroyed by flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall from

's landfall on the U.S. East Coast. An effort to rebuild the structure was supported by town officials, who voted to use the bridge's insurance money to build another covered bridge. The new bridge was opened on January 26, 2013.Melissa Sheketoff, WCAX-TV
Historic Bridge Back Open
, January 26, 2013

References

{{NRHP in Windham County, Vermont Covered bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont Covered bridges in Windham County, Vermont Buildings and structures in Rockingham, Vermont Bridge disasters in the United States Bridges completed in 1871 Bridges completed in 2012 Wooden bridges in Vermont Former road bridges in the United States Transportation disasters in Vermont National Register of Historic Places in Windham County, Vermont Buildings and structures demolished in 2011 Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont Rebuilt buildings and structures in the United States Lattice truss bridges in the United States 1871 establishments in Vermont Buildings and structures destroyed by flooding

History

Destruction by Hurricane Irene and replacement

See also

References