About

The Gifford Covered Bridge, also called the C.K. Smith Covered Bridge, carries Hyde Road over the Second Branch of the White River on the far east side of Randolph, a short distance east of Vermont Route 14. It is a single-span multiple kingpost truss with a span of about 46 feet. It carries one lane of vehicle traffic under a 3-ton limit.

History

The construction date and builder are unknown. The truss was most likely built uncovered, with planking to protect it, and was roofed and sided around 1904. Around 1955 steel I-beams were added above the roadway and tied to I-beams below, an unusual way to strengthen a covered bridge. Extensive repairs in 2001 included raising the bridge to help keep floodwaters off the deck, along with a new roof and siding. The Vermont Covered Bridge Society, citing Bridgehunter, reports that a 2011 rehabilitation replaced the steel reinforcing with glue-laminated wooden beams. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 30, 1974.

Design

A multiple kingpost truss is a row of vertical posts with diagonal braces leaning toward the center of the span. Here the truss reaches only half the height of the bridge, a feature shared in Vermont only with the nearby Braley Covered Bridge, and the covering is a separate post-and-beam structure. The portal ends extend beyond the trusses, and the bridge has a metal roof, vertical board siding and concrete abutments.

Visiting

The bridge is on Hyde Road, just east of VT 14. It is open to vehicles with a 3-ton limit, and Wikipedia notes evidence that heavy vehicles ford the shallow river beside it to avoid the bridge.

Sources: Gifford Covered Bridge (Wikipedia), Gifford Bridge (Vermont Covered Bridge Society)

Photo: Steven Bergeron Srbergeron, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.