Wright's Bridge is a historic covered bridge in Newport, New Hampshire. Originally built in 1906 to carry the Boston and Maine Railroad across the Sugar River, it now carries the multi-use Sugar River Trail.[2] The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[1]
Wright's Bridge | |
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| Location | Sugar River Trail over the Sugar River, Newport, New Hampshire |
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| Coordinates | 43°21′32″N 72°15′33″W / 43.35889°N 72.25917°W |
| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1906 |
| Architect | Boston & Maine Railroad |
| Architectural style | Town-Lattice Truss |
| NRHP reference No. | 75000135[1] |
| Added to NRHP | June 10, 1975 |
Description and history edit
Wright's Bridge is located in a rural setting in western Newport, spanning the Sugar River about 1,200 feet (370 m) west of the trail's intersection with Chandler Mill Road. The bridge is a single-span Town double-lattice truss structure which has been reinforced by laminated arches. The bridge spans 122 feet (37 m), with 6 feet (1.8 m) of overhang at each end, and rests on granite abutments. Its exterior is finished with vertical board siding extending to about 2 feet (0.61 m) below the eaves. The portals have vertical boards along the sides, and horizontal boards above the opening. Elements of the trusses and arches are joined by a combination of wooden pegging, iron reinforcing rods, and metal turnbuckles.[3]
The bridge is named for S. K. Wright, who sold this portion of the railroad right-of-way in 1871. The first bridge on the site was built soon afterward, by the Sugar River Railroad which originally built this section of railroad. Its successor, the Boston & Maine, built this replacement structure in 1906.[3] The line was operated by the B&M until 1954 when it was sold to the Claremont & Concord Railway. The C&C last ran to Newport in 1977 and the line was subsequently abandoned.[4] The bridge is one of two surviving railroad bridges on the line; the other is Pier Bridge.
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See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Sugar River Trail | New Hampshire Trails | TrailLink". www.traillink.com.
- ^ a b "NRHP nomination for Wright's Bridge". National Park Service. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
- ^ "On-Line Archives".
External links edit
- New Hampshire DHR page on Wright's Bridge (dated info)
- Town of Newport page on covered bridges[usurped]
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. NH-35, "Wright's Bridge, Spanning Sugar River, former Boston & Maine Railroad (originally Concord & Claremont Railroad), Claremont, Sullivan County, NH", 9 photos, 1 color transparency, 6 measured drawings, 8 data pages, 1 photo caption page