One of New Hampshire’s 54 covered bridges will be dragged back into place Tuesday as it nears the end of a year-long refurbishment.
The 167-year-old Bement Covered Bridge, which crosses the Warner River in Bradfordwas moved about 50 feet upstream last year so that the abutments could be replaced.
“We built a new granite abutment on existing bedrock,” said Matthew Belden, vice president of structures for Daniels Construction in Ascutney, Vt., which has performed a number of covered bridge restorations over the years. The company also replaced a number of deteriorated pieces in the bridge, which last saw major work a half-century ago, in 1969. “We typically just shore it in place, and restore it where it sits. This is first time we’re moving one, but that’s not an uncommon practice.”
At 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, Daniels is slated to pull the 50-ton bridge back into place over rollers on a steel frame, using winches and cables. If nothing goes wrong, the whole process should take about half an hour.
Belden cautioned that the bridge won’t be back to its original appearance for a little while.
“We can’t put the siding on until we take the steel framework out and we can’t do that until we’ve completed the move,” he said. “It might not look beautiful but it will soon.”
The Bement Covered Bridge, just south of Bradford center, is about 70 feet long, a single span with a design known as Long truss. According to local histories, it is the third bridge put on that location and is named after Samuel Bement, who owned land there.
The upgrade is budgeted at $1.65 million. It is mostly paid for by state and federal funds, with Bradford contributing approximately $205,000.
(David Brooks can be reached at 369-3313 or dbrooks@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @GraniteGeek.)
