Montgomery Covered Bridge

Montgomery Covered Bridge
Carries	Automobile
Crosses	North Branch of Lamoille River
Locale	Waterville, Vermont
Maintained by	Town of Waterville
ID number	VT-08-14
Characteristics
Design	Covered, Town lattice
Material	Wood
Total length	70 ft 3.75 in (21.43 m)
Width	12 ft 5.25 in (3.79 m)
Number of spans	1
Clearance above	8 ft 3 in (2.51 m)
History
Construction end	1887
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Coordinates	44°41′42″N 72°45′56″W / 44.69500°N 72.76556°W / 44.69500; -72.76556Coordinates: 44°41′42″N 72°45′56″W / 44.69500°N 72.76556°W / 44.69500; -72.76556
Area	1 acre (0.4 ha)
NRHP Reference #	74000228[1]
Added to NRHP	October 18, 1974

The Montgomery Covered Bridge, also known as the Lower Covered Bridge^[2] is a wooden covered bridge that crosses the North Branch of the Lamoille River in Waterville, Vermont on Montgomery Road. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.^[1]

The bridge is of Queen post design, built by an unknown builder. Despite the Geographical Names Information System (GNIS) database listing Lower as one of the names of this bridge, this may be an error as it is commonly known as the Middle Covered Bridge since it is between the Jaynes Covered Bridge (also known as the Upper bridge) and the Village Covered Bridge (also known as the Lower bridge). All cross the same waterway.^[3]

Recent history

In 1969 a large snowstorm deposited 5 feet (2 m) of snow, concentrated more on one side of the roof than the other, which induced a lean. Dallas Montgomery, a farmer for whom the bridge is now named, got up on the roof to remove some of the snow. Local resident Wilmer Locke used a winch to right the lean and added bracing. In 1971 an asphalt truck fell through the deck into the river below (luckily with only minor injuries to the driver). The bridge was subsequently reinforced with steel beams. There are apparently accounts of major repairs made in 1997.^[3]

References