Bedell Covered Bridge

Bedell Bridge
Crosses	Connecticut River
Locale	Newbury, Vermont and Haverhill, New Hampshire
Design	Burr truss covered bridge
Total length	396 ft (121 m)
Construction end	1805, 1823, ?, 1866, 1978
Opened	July 22, 1979
Closed	1823, 1841, 1862, July 4, 1866, September 14, 1979
Coordinates	44°02′43″N 72°04′27″W
Bedell Covered Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city:	Newbury, Vermont and Haverhill, New Hampshire
Coordinates:	44°2′43″N 72°04′27″W
Architectural style:	Burr truss covered bridge
Governing body:	Haverhill, New Hampshire
NRHP Reference#:	75002171
Added to NRHP:	May 28, 1975

The Bedell Bridge was a Burr truss covered bridge that spanned the Connecticut River between Newbury, Vermont and Haverhill, New Hampshire. Until its most recent destruction in 1979, it was the second longest covered bridge in the United States.

History

So far, there have been five bridges on this site. The first was built in 1805 and heavily damaged in 1823. Quickly rebuilt that year, it was washed away in 1841. A third bridge was carried away by a spring flood in 1862. The fourth bridge was destroyed in a storm on July 4, 1866. The final bridge, so far, was built that same year. It was in service for over a hundred years until it was closed to traffic in 1968. It was scheduled for demolition in 1973 due to heavy damage that year.

A Save the Bedell Bridge Committee raised $250,000 to rebuild the bridge, which was completed by 1978 with the associated Bedell Bridge State Park. The bridge was rededicated on July 22, 1979 only to be blown away again by a windstorm on September 14, 1979. The state park, as well as the abutments and a pier in the river, are all that remains.

Image gallery

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  A view of the pier and the western abutment from the eastern abutment

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  A view, from and showing the eastern abutment, showing the pier and the western abutment

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  The pier complete with crowning tree.

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  The official historical marker

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  The memorial marker

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  People on the eastern abutment, giving a sense of scale

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  Pier with tree

See also

• List of crossings of the Connecticut River

References

• Delany, Edmund Thomas (1983). The Connecticut River: New England's Historic Waterway. The Globe Pequot Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-0871069801. 

External links

• Bedell Bridge State Park official site
• Haverhill, New Hampshire Bedell Bridge site
• Wildernet site