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Essex
County, Vermont
(WGN 45-05-03/29-04-08)
(WGCB VT-05-03/NH-04-08): (1911; repaired 1969; rehabilitated
1983) Two-span
Howe truss
266' 3" over
the Connecticut River. Located: East of Lunenburg, Vermont
on the old road to Lancaster, New Hampshire. Directions: 1.5
miles east of Lunenburg, Vermont on US 2 then right on South Lunenburg
Road for 0.4 mile and just left to the bridge. The
first bridge at this site was constructed in the c. 1860s-70s by
the Union Bridge Company to connect the towns of Lancaster, New Hampshire
and Lunenburg, Vermont. It was a toll bridge. It was destroyed
by a log jam in 1908. The current bridge was bridge was built in
1911 with each town contributing $2,500. The remaining $1,678 was raised
by subscription. The timber for the bridge was precut and assembled at
the site. In 1969, a truck loaded with highway salt dropped through
the deck and landed on the ice below. The bridge was closed on July
5, 1983 for twelve weeks to allow rehabilitation by the state of New Hampshire
at a cost of $133,000. Funding came from the towns of Lancaster, New Hampshire,
Lunenburg, Vermont, the states of New Hampshire and Vermont, and a Federal
Historic Preservation Fund matching grant from the National Park Service
through the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. It was
reopened on November 23, 1983. The Town of Lancaster, New
Hampshire owns all but 32 feet of the bridge, which is in Vermont territory
and owned by the Town of Lunenburg, Vermont. The structure rests
on dry, rough-cut, stone block abutments faced and capped with poured concrete
with one pier, consisting of dry, rough cut stone blocks faced with poured
concrete. Dark weathered vertical boarding also covers the portals
and weather panels. Weathered vertical boarding covers the sides,
open under the eaves for ventilation, The downstream boarding consists
of two horizontal tiers, the upper tier overlapping the lower tier with
the seam just below the mid-point of the siding. A plank guardrail,
secured to the truss members, runs down each side of the interior.
A rusted steel guardrail extends out from each side of the portals.
Thick longitudinal planking forms the floor and its roof is covered with
clear coated steel. Also known as the Lunenburg-Lancaster
Covered Bridge, the
Mt. Orne Covered Bridge and the Mt. Orne
Station Covered Bridge. It was listed on
the National Register of Historic Places December 12, 1976. (Oct
2003; Sep 2007) |
