The Ranger Bridge (officially Veterans Memorial Bridge) between

Wells River, Vermont Wells River is a village in the town of Newbury in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 431 at the 2020 census. The village center is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 5 and 302. The village center (the portion near ...

and

Woodsville, New Hampshire Woodsville is a census-designated place (CDP) and the largest village in the town of Haverhill in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States, along the Connecticut River at the mouth of the Ammonoosuc River. The population was 1,431 at the 2 ...

, is a three-hinged steel

arch truss A truss arch bridge combines the elements of the truss bridge and the arch bridge. The actual resolution of forces will depend upon the design. If no horizontal thrusting forces are generated this becomes an arch-shaped truss, essentially a bent b ...

bridge over the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

. It was built in 1923 to replace a 1917 bridge and is the oldest steel arch bridge over the Connecticut River.

History

The Wells River Bridge was built in 1903 to carry rail and road traffic. In 1917, the road traffic was rerouted over a new bridge, a three-span Warren deck truss designed by John W. Storrs, just downstream, called the Ranger Bridge, for around $65,000 (

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

with inflation). A flood undermined and destroyed this bridge in 1922. J. R. Worcester designed the next bridge, which was built by the Boston Bridge Company, the same combination of designer and builder which made the Arch Bridge in Bellows Falls 18 years earlier. The current bridge was completed in 1923 as a three-hinged steel

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...

. It was rehabilitated in 2001–3.

References

External links

Bridges over the Connecticut River Woodsville, New Hampshire Wells River, Vermont Bridges completed in 1917 Bridges completed in 1923 Bridges in Grafton County, New Hampshire Bridges in Orange County, Vermont Road bridges in New Hampshire Road bridges in Vermont U.S. Route 2 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Through arch bridges in the United States Steel bridges in the United States 1917 establishments in New Hampshire Buildings and structures in Newbury, Vermont Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States {{Vermont-bridge-struct-stub

History

See also

References

External links