Covered bridges - at what price?

The two major roads in Thetford, Route 113 and Route 132, run on either side of what can broadly be called the Ompompanoosuc River valley. Route 113 leads to Vershire, Chelsea, and beyond, while Route 132 is our link to Strafford, Tunbridge, and towns in the White River watershed like Sharon and Royalton. Traffic moves between these transportation arteries via two connector roads, Academy Road that crosses the Ompompanoosuc Main stem and Tucker Hill Road that crosses the river's East branch.  Each road crosses the river by means of a historic covered bridge. To avoid one or other of the bridges one would have to drive down to Route 5.

Academy Road runs through the Union Village Bridge that has spanned the river since 1867. With a truss length of 113 feet, it is the longest multiple-kingpost span in the state. It rests on original abutments of dry-laid stone that have been faced or capped in concrete. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and was rehabilitated in 2003.

The Tucker Hill Road bridge has an estimated build date of 1837-40 and was renovated in 2007. The bridge is a Haupt Truss span, the only one of its kind in New England, and one of just two in the United States. It is 127 feet long.

The town is justifiably proud to be home to these unique historic structures. In fact in 2020-2021 residents celebrated the Tucker Hill Rd bridge, also known as the Sayre Bridge, by raising the money to commission hand-painted wooden signs to match those on the Union Village bridge. The signs were installed in June 2021.  

But while these bridges are revered by many, they are also abused by a few. We're talking here about drivers of high vehicles like tractor-trailers, delivery trucks, box trucks, motorized homes, and the like. Both bridges have clear signs on all approaches, warning drivers of the bridge height, which is 11 ft 9 inches for the Sayre Bridge and 10 ft 6 inches for the Union Village Bridge. However between the year 2020 and today the bridges have been struck at least four times by such vehicles. And in all but one case, the vehicle fled the scene. There were many more strikes in the more distant past.

Shortly before the hand-painted signs were installed on the Sayre Bridge, a 13-ft-high box truck delivering kitchen cabinets to Poor Farm Road struck the bridge. At least the driver had the decency to remain at the scene. The bridge sustained "minor cosmetic damage," as did the truck. The driver was cited for failure to obey traffic control devices and may have been subject to a small fine. That is the extent of what the law can do in this situation, and it is not much of a deterrent. 

In January of 2022, less than a year after the signs were put in place, a white Freightliner Coronado carrying wooden trusses passed through the bridge. Either the truck or the trusses struck the bridge, damaging both the south- and north- facing fascia boards. Unfortunately the impact also broke one of the hand-painted signs in two. This truck did not stop, turning east on Rt 113 and disappearing over Thetford Hill. Although it was captured on security cameras at two homes, the photos did not reveal the vehicle's plate number.

The Union Village bridge hasn't fared any better. In August of 2022, roof timbers were damaged and repaired in early 2023 to the tune of about $12,845. Almost immediately the bridge was struck again, necessitating an additional $8,565 in repairs.

More extensive damage was inflicted on the Union Village bridge in February 2023. This time a box truck was observed driving away in the direction of Rt 113  "with timbers falling off its roof."  Some of the X-braces between the roof cross-beams were torn off. This and other damage to the roof was bad enough that a State Engineer was called in to determine whether it was safe to keep the bridge open. There was concern that it might not withstand high winds or a snow load. After inspection, the road crew made some recommended emergency repairs that supported the roof until a professional repair could be made. 

The Union Village bridge was hit again in July of this year. The Town Manager reported that the damage did not look "too bad." Again the Town had to call in bridge repair specialists to assess the damage and make repairs. And again the culprit got away.

None of this is cheap. For instance, each of the end fascia boards are historically one continuous piece of wood and pricey to replace. In all, from 2020 to the present, the Town has spent $52,845.00 on covered bridge repairs. It appears that insurance and other revenue covered $28,528.55 of the cost, so total out of pocket expenses just for the last 4 years were $24,316.45. 

Solutions other than just putting up with this situation have been proposed. Over 20 years ago in the Town Report of 2000, the Selectboard wrote ”We hired Marcon Corporation to apply for and manage an Enhancement Grant to develop an over-height warning system for the Tucker Hill Covered Bridge. We are looking to design a system that will warn drivers when their vehicles are too high for the bridge while at the same time not detract from the historic beauty of the bridge and its surrounding area.” However, nothing more came of it, because neighbors opposed more structures, lights, signs, etc. around the bridge. 

A few other communities have had enough. In Lyndon, protective steel barriers on either end are in the works for the Millers Run bridge after height warnings and flashing lights did not prove effective. The arch-like barriers will physically stop a truck from going into the bridge.

The steel will be matte black with a decorative element atop the opening. The structures will be installed about 50 ft from the bridge so they will not intrude when people take photos of the bridge. Lyndon budgeted $30,000 for this.  

With costly bridge hits coming at regular intervals perhaps it's time that Thetford revisited this.