Hutchins Covered Bridge
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The Hutchins 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 ...
that crosses the South Branch of the Trout River in
Montgomery, Vermont Montgomery is a town in Franklin County, Vermont, United States. The population as of the 2020 census was 1,184. In 1963, part of Avery's Gore in Franklin County became part of Montgomery, with the other section becoming part of Belvidere in Lam ...
on Hutchins Bridge Road. It was built in 1883 by Sheldon & Savannah Jewett, brothers who are credited with building most of the area's covered bridges. 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 1974.


Description and history

The Hutchins Covered Bridge stands in what is now a rural area of central Montgomery, carrying the dead-end Hutchins Bridge Road over the South Branch Trout River a short way west of
Vermont Route 118 Vermont Route 118 (VT 118) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Vermont. The highway runs from VT 100 in Eden north to VT 108 in Berkshire. VT 118 connects several towns in northern Lamoille County and eastern Franklin County, ...
. It is a single-span
Town lattice 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 ...
truss, long and wide, with a roadway width of (one lane). It has a metal gable roof, and its exterior is clad in vertical board siding, which extends around to the interior of the portals. The siding stops short of the roof eaves, leaving an open strip. The bridge deck is wood planking, and the
abutments 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 ...
consist of dry-laid stone blocks; those at one end are laid on a large stone outcrop. with The bridge was completed in 1883 by the Jewett Brothers, who operated a sawmill in Montgomery's West Hill area. They prepared the wood for the bridges at their
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...
. The brothers are credited with building seven area surviving covered bridges, distinctive in Vermont as the highest concentration of bridges in the state with a single attributed builder. Like the nearby West Hill Covered Bridge, the Hutchins bridge was located in a bustling area at one time. Although it served a dead-end road, a butter tub company was situated there and used the bridge frequently. Also like the West Hill bridge, activity slackened and the bridge was essentially abandoned, falling into serious disrepair. At one time, large steel beams were installed below the deck, and tied to even larger beams running through the bridge over the deck to prevent it from falling into the river below. In 2009 it was reconstructed by Alpine Construction of
Schuylerville, New York Schuylerville () is a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The village is located in the northeastern part of the Town of Saratoga, east of Saratoga Springs. The Village of Victory is adjacent to Schuylerville to the southwest ...
(the same company that rebuilt the West Hill bridge). Today the bridge shares another commonality with the West Hill bridge: the approach road is little more than a one lane gravel drive. A series of articles chronicling the work can be found at the Vermont Covered Bridges web site.Article: "Hutchins Bridge Finished - October 29"
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See also

* * * * *
List of covered bridges in Vermont Below is a list of covered bridges in Vermont. There are just over 100 authentic covered bridges in the U.S. state of Vermont, giving the state the highest number of covered bridges per square mile in the United States. A covered bridge is consid ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Franklin County, Vermont __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Franklin County, Vermont. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Franklin County, Ve ...
*
List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont This is a list of bridges and tunnels on the National Register of Historic Places in the U.S. state of Vermont. See also * List of covered bridges in Vermont * List of non-authentic covered bridges in Vermont References {{DEFAULTSORT:List ...


References

{{NRHP in Franklin County, Vermont Buildings and structures in Montgomery, Vermont Bridges completed in 1883 Covered bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont Wooden bridges in Vermont Covered bridges in Franklin County, Vermont National Register of Historic Places in Franklin County, Vermont Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont Lattice truss bridges in the United States