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Windsor
County, New Hampshire - Sullivan County, Vermont
New Hampshire No.
20 (WGN 29-10-09 - 45-14-14) (WGCB NH-10-09 - VT-14-14): (1866;
repaired 1887, 1892, 1925, 1938, 1954-55 and 1977; renovated 1989; 2001)
A two-span Town lattice truss, 449' 4" long consisting of two spans of
204' and 203' over the Connecticut River. Located:
Just off NH 12A in Cornish, New Hampshire to Windsor, Vermont. Directions:
Follow SR 12A north about 7 miles from SR 11/103 west of Claremont 0.5
mile past jct. of Cornish City Road and just left on the west side of SR
12A. The current bridge was built at a cost of $9,000.00. The
bridge is posted for ten tons. It was framed
on a nearby meadow northwest of the site and later moved to its current
location. It was built using squared timber instead of planks.
There were three bridges previously built on this site in 1796, 1824 and
1828. The first bridges were destroyed by floods. The current bridge was
built by James Tasker and Bela Fletcher. In 1936 the bridge was purchased
by New Hampshire and operated as a toll bridge until June 1, 1943. The
two lane bridge has undergone many major repairs, starting in 1887 and
subsequently in 1892, 1925, 1936 and 1938 (at a cost of $8,000.00). After
renovation by the state in 1954, the bridge was damaged in 1977 by water
and ice during a flood. It was repaired again by the state for $25,000.
Then on July 2, 1987, the bridge was closed to traffic due to its deteriorated
condition. In 1989, the bridge was once again reconstructed by the state
at a cost of $4,650,000 of which New Hampshire contributed $4,450,000.00
and Vermont contributed $200,000.00. During
this restoration, among other repairs, about half of the floor members,
the upper chord over the center pier, and the lower chord were replaced
with glue-laminated yellow pine timbers, new floor joists and Douglas fir
flooring was installed along with new pine siding and a galvanized steel
roof with spruce rafters. It reopened to traffic
on December 8, 1989.
In 2001 a grant was awarded the bridge to install
upgraded fire protection in the form of a fire detection and dry sprinkler
system. This is the second longest wooden covered
bridge in the United States (the longest is the 458' Medora Covered Bridge
in Indiana) and the longest two-span covered bridge in the world. The
structure is set on large mortared granite block abutments with wing walls
on the upstream side, poured concrete at the bases added at a later date
and the southeast abutment faced with concrete in 1921, and one pier, from
the 1849 bridge, consisting of mortared, large, granite blocks, rounded
on the upstream side, with poured concrete added at the base at a later
date. Dark weathered, tongue and groove pine boarding, installed
in 1989 covers the sides to the eaves There are eighteen small window
openings with small roofs above them, non-opposing, along each side.
Dark weathered, tongue and groove pine boarding also cover the weather
panels and the lower side of the portals on each side of the entrances
and white painted horizontal boarding covers the portals. A mortared
stone guard wall, capped with slate, extends out from each side of the
portal at the Vermont side and rusted steel guardrails extend out from
each side of the portal at the New Hampshire side. Its floor has thick
longitudinal Douglas fir planking and a white painted galvanized steel
roof which projects beyond the entrances to provide additional weather
protection for the interior. When visited on September 20, 2007,
the bridge was being repainted and traffic lights had been installed to
facilitate travel over the structure.
Also known as the Cornish Covered Bridge, the Windsor
Covered Bridge and the Windsor-Cornish Covered Bridge. The
American Society of Civil Engineers designated it as a National Historic
Civil Engineering Landmark in 1970. The Bridge was listed on
the National Register of Historic Places November 21. 1976. (Sep
2002; Sep 2007) |
