About
The Chiselville Covered Bridge carries Sunderland Hill Road over the Roaring Branch of the Batten Kill in Sunderland, near East Arlington. It is a Town lattice truss bridge 117 feet long, set about 40 feet above the stream. It is named for a chisel factory that once operated in the village of Chiselville, and is also called the East Arlington Bridge and the High Bridge. It is open to one lane of vehicle traffic.
History
Daniel Oatman built the bridge in 1870 at a cost of $2,307.31. Its height kept it out of the water during the November 1927 flood that hit many Vermont covered bridges. In 1971 two loaded gravel trucks tried to cross at the same time and badly damaged it. During rehabilitation in 1973, steel girders and a center pier were added to carry the load. The bridge appears in the 1987 film Baby Boom.
Design
The Town lattice truss is a web of crisscrossed planks that spreads the load across many members. The steel girders and center pier added in 1973 sit beneath the wooden trusses.
Visiting
The bridge is on Sunderland Hill Road and carries one lane of traffic at a time. A sign at the bridge warns of a one dollar fine for driving faster than a walk.
Sources: Chiselville Covered Bridge (Wikipedia), Chiselville Covered Bridge (Gribblenation), List of covered bridges in Vermont
Photo: pedrik, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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