About
The Bedell Covered Bridge crossed the Connecticut River between Newbury, Vermont, and Haverhill, New Hampshire. It is no longer standing: a windstorm destroyed it on September 14, 1979, less than two months after the newly restored bridge was rededicated. Until then it was the second-longest covered bridge in the United States.
History
The 1866 bridge was the last of five bridges built at this crossing in the 19th century. The first opened in 1805, and floods and storms took several of its successors, the most recent on July 4, 1866. The replacement built that year served for 92 years until it was closed to traffic in 1958. It began as a privately owned toll bridge. Newbury and Haverhill bought it in 1916 and removed the toll, and New Hampshire took ownership in 1967. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
After heavy damage in 1973 the bridge was scheduled for demolition, but the Save the Bedell Bridge Committee raised $250,000 to rebuild it. The work was finished by 1978, and the bridge was rededicated on July 22, 1979. On September 14, 1979, a violent windstorm destroyed it.
Design
The bridge used a Burr truss, which combines a timber arch with a multiple kingpost truss. It had two spans of roughly equal length resting on a central stone pier and stone abutments. The state historical marker gives its length as 396 feet and calls it the largest surviving two-span Burr truss covered bridge of its time. Most of the bridge stood in New Hampshire, because the state line follows the western low-water mark of the river.
Visiting
The site is now Bedell Bridge State Historic Site, a 74-acre park at 880 Meadow Lane in Haverhill, New Hampshire. The stone abutments and the pier in the river remain, and New Hampshire historical marker No. 136 and an information kiosk tell the bridge's story. The park is open year-round, with a Fish and Game boat launch, a picnic area and walking trails. It is unstaffed in the off-season.
Sources: Bedell Covered Bridge (Wikipedia), Bedell Bridge State Historic Site (NH State Parks), The Bedell Bridge marker (HMdb)
Location
880 Meadow Lane, Haverhill, NH 03765Similar Bridges in category
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