Waitsfield Covered Bridge

About

The Waitsfield Covered Bridge, also called the Great Eddy or Big Eddy Covered Bridge, carries Bridge Street over the Mad River just east of Waitsfield village. A sign on the bridge calls it the Village covered bridge. It is a single-span Burr arch truss bridge, about 105 feet long, built in 1833. It carries vehicle traffic and has a covered walkway on its east side.

History

The bridge was built in 1833; its builder is unknown. It is one of Vermont's oldest covered bridges. A walkway was added along the east side in 1940. Repairs followed in 1973, 1989, 1992 and 2001. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 6, 1974. Flooding from Tropical Storm Irene on August 28, 2011 reached the underside of the bridge and damaged an abutment, but the bridge survived. It closed for repairs in spring 2015 and reopened on November 12, 2016. In November 2024 a rental truck about 2 feet taller than the clearance struck the bridge and damaged the roof structure; it reopened the same afternoon with temporary supports.

Design

The Burr arch truss pairs a multiple kingpost truss with a long arch. Here each truss has a laminated arch, and laminated stringers were added under the deck. It is described as the longest single-span Burr truss bridge in Vermont. The bridge is about 16 feet wide, with a metal roof that extends over the walkway.

Visiting

The bridge is on Bridge Street, just east of the village center, and is open to vehicles. It has a 3-ton weight limit and a clearance of 9.5 feet.

Sources: Great Eddy Covered Bridge (Wikipedia), Waitsfield covered bridge reopens after truck crashes into it (VTDigger)

Photo: Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.