Cornish–Windsor Covered Bridge

Cornish–Windsor Covered Bridge
Crosses Connecticut River
Locale Cornish, New Hampshire to Windsor, Vermont
Maintained by New Hampshire Department of Transportation
Characteristics
Design Town lattice truss bridge[1]
Material wood
Total length 449 ft 5 in (137.0 m)
Width 24 ft (7.3 m)
Longest span 204 ft (62.2 m)
Load limit 10 US tons (9.1 metric tons)
Clearance below 12 ft 9 in (3.89 m)
History
Construction end

1866[1]

Cornish–Windsor Covered Bridge
Nearest city Windsor, VT
Coordinates 43°28′25″N 72°23′2″W / 43.47361°N 72.38389°W / 43.47361; -72.38389Coordinates: 43°28′25″N 72°23′2″W / 43.47361°N 72.38389°W / 43.47361; -72.38389
Built 1866
NRHP Reference # 76000135 [2]
Added to NRHP November 21, 1976

The Cornish–Windsor Covered Bridge is a covered bridge that spans the Connecticut River between Cornish, New Hampshire and Windsor, Vermont. It was the longest covered bridge still standing in the United States until the Smolen–Gulf Bridge opened in Ohio in 2008.[3]

While the Old Blenheim Bridge had and Bridgeport Covered Bridge has longer clear spans, and the Smolen-Gulf Bridge is longer overall, with a longest single span of 204 feet (62 m), the Cornish-Windsor Bridge is still the longest wooden covered bridge and has the longest single covered span to carry automobile traffic (Blenheim was and Bridgeport is pedestrian only).

History

There were three bridges previously built on this site—one each in 1796, 1824 and 1828.[4] The 1824 and 1828 spans were constructed and operated by a group of businessmen which included Allen Wardner.[5]

The current bridge was originally built in 1866, and rebuilt in 1988. The bridge is approximately 449 feet (137 m) long and 24 feet (7.3 m) wide. It has a Town lattice type truss. It was designated a National Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 1970.

The bridge is owned and maintained by the State of New Hampshire, and though often associated with Windsor, is in fact part of the town of Cornish, since the defined boundary between New Hampshire and Vermont is at the western high-water mark of the river. When one drives onto the bridge from the Windsor side of the river they are immediately in New Hampshire.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Cornish-Windsor Bridge at Structurae
  2. ↑ Staff (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  3. ↑ Horton, John (2008-08-23). "Ashtabula County really has it covered; New roofed span snatches title of nation's longest". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
  4. ↑ New Hampshire Department of Transportation, Cornish-Windsor Bridge, retrieved January 11, 2014
  5. ↑ William Henry Child, History of the Town of Cornish, New Hampshire, 1911, page 216
  6. ↑ VERMONT v. NEW HAMPSHIRE 289 U.S. 593 (1933) says the river, and therefore the bridge, is all in New Hampshire.

External links

Media related to Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge at Wikimedia Commons

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