At this point in Woodstock, Vermont, several covered bridges once spanned the Ottauquechee River, and after the 1877 iron bridge that replaced them was condemned in 1966, a comparable wooden bridge was built for approximately $65,000 instead of a modern concrete and steel span estimated at $75,000. The State of Vermont paid 80% of the cost and the rest was raised by private subscription. Designed and built by Graton Associates of Ashland, N.H., in their first complete building project, the bridge used Town Truss construction named for 19th century bridge designer Ithiel Town. It became the first truly authentic highway covered bridge built in either New Hampshire or Vermont since 1895. Its trusses contain no functional metal, with lattice members held by about 1,400 trunnels made from 23 white oak trees from New Hampshire, while most of the 80,000 board feet of lumber was Douglas fir from Oregon. The roadway measures 14' 5" with a 5' sidewalk, the bridge is 150 feet long, weighs approximately 100 tons, and one side member was estimated at 19 tons. It was assembled on Union St. and drawn across the river on cribwork by oxen in June 1969. In May 1974, on the night of the Firemen’s Ball, a group of local youths set the bridge afire, destroying the roof and siding and extensively damaging the lattice trusses on the north end. Graton directed the intricate reconstruction, but repairs cost more than $87,000, with some few thousand later recovered by court order from the wages of those old enough to work over a two-year period. Even after the fire, the State rated the span at 16-ton capacity, and it still contained no structural steel.

Photo: Conrad Ward

Photo: Conrad Ward

Photo: Conrad Ward

West Woodstock, Vermont · USA