Bissell Bridge
Franklin County, Charlemont. Built 1951, rebuilt 2009, 94 ft. long. One of five surviving covered bridges in Franklin County, reopened to vehicle traffic after a $3 million restoration.
The Bissell Bridge is the second covered bridge to stand at this crossing of Mill Brook in Charlemont — the first, built around 1840, was replaced in 1951 by the current 94-foot span, built on a variation of the Long truss and framed in Douglas fir. It carried two lanes of traffic for over four decades before being bypassed by a temporary structure in 1995, after which it stood open only to pedestrians while its future was decided.
Rather than let it go, the town and state committed to a full restoration: Palmer-based Northern Construction spent two years and about $3 million dismantling and inspecting the structural timbers, building new abutments, replacing the floor beams and deck, and adding steel reinforcement rods along with a dry sprinkler fire-protection system. Between 80 and 90 percent of the bridge's original material was retained through the process. The Bissell reopened to motor vehicle traffic in May 2009 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, one of five surviving covered bridges left in Franklin County — more than any other county in the state.