The Enfield–Suffield Covered Bridge was 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 ...
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 into Long Isl ...
located between
Enfield, Connecticut
Enfield is a New England town, town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, first settled by John and Robert Pease of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. ...
, and
Suffield, Connecticut
Suffield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region, and located in the Connecticut River Valley. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...
. The bridge connected Bridge Lane on the Enfield (east) side of the river with
Bridge Street on the Suffield side of the river.
Half of the bridge was destroyed in a flood on February 15, 1900. Hosea Keach, agent for the
New Haven Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to 1968. Founded by the merger of ...
at Enfield Bridge station, which was at the entrance to the bridge, was on the bridge when it collapsed. He rode a piece of the span down the river, and climbed to the roof, where he was seen by two railroad employees at the
Warehouse Point railroad bridge. They lowered a rope from the railroad bridge as he passed below, rescuing him.
The remains of the bridge were purchased by
Southern New England Telephone, which blew up the remaining part of the bridge and used the piers for carrying telephone wires across the river.
See also
*
List of crossings of the Connecticut River
This is a list of bridges and other crossings of the Connecticut River from its mouth at Long Island Sound upstream to its source at the Connecticut Lakes. The list includes current road and rail crossings, as well as ferries carrying a state hig ...
References
Covered bridges in Connecticut
Bridges over the Connecticut River
Bridge disasters in the United States
Bridges completed in 1832
Wooden bridges in Connecticut
Bridges in Hartford County, Connecticut
Road bridges in Connecticut
Transportation disasters in Connecticut
Former toll bridges in Connecticut
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