Vermont Country Store Kissing Bridge

About

The Vermont Country Store Kissing Bridge, listed by the Vermont Covered Bridge Society as the Victorian Village Covered Bridge and also called the Depot bridge, crosses Rock Brook at the Vermont Country Store in Rockingham, Windham County. It stands on the southwest side of VT 103, northwest of Rockingham village. It is a single-span kingpost bridge with a 44-foot truss length, privately owned as part of the store complex.

History

The bridge was built from the Depot bridge in West Townshend, which Wikipedia dates to 1872. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers removed that bridge in 1959 for the Townshend flood control project and put it in storage. In 1967 Aubrey Stratton shortened it to 44 feet and rebuilt it at the Vermont Country Store, where it replaced an uncovered wooden bridge. Dale J. Travis's database gives the length as 46 feet.

Design

The bridge uses a kingpost truss, the simplest timber truss form, with a central vertical post and a diagonal brace on each side. Wikipedia classes it as a modified kingpost. The Vermont Covered Bridge Society notes that, unlike most kingpost bridges, it has steel rods that support the deck from the middle of each kingpost brace.

Visiting

From the junction of VT 103 and I-91 at exit 6, the bridge is 2.4 miles northwest on VT 103, on the southwest side of the road at the Vermont Country Store. It is privately owned, and no source states whether vehicles or only pedestrians cross it.

Sources: Victorian Village Covered Bridge (Vermont Covered Bridge Society), 45-13-23 (Dale J. Travis), List of covered bridges in Vermont (Wikipedia)