Sanborn Bridge Secured Ahead Of Debby

Work Not Related To Flood Study That Recommended Permanent Bridge Removal

Paul Hayes phayes@littletonrecord.com Staff Writer Aug 8, 2024 Updated Aug 8, 2024

 

 

LYNDON — The Sanborn Covered Bridge has been protected ahead of Tropical Storm Debby.

Timber-frame builders Vermont Heavy Timber (VHT) of Huntington on Thursday anchored the bridge with cables and removed its siding, in efforts to reduce its flood exposure and protect it against high water.

The work was done on an emergency basis prior to Debby’s arrival to keep the historic span from falling into the Passumpsic River.

The Sanborn Bridge had already been battered by historically high water on July 11, and some feared it would not survive another major storm.

“There’s a pretty big storm coming tomorrow and this bridge has already faced quite a bit of damage,” said VHT owner Miles Jenness, explaining that river currents during the 100-year storm on July 11 had bent the Sanborn Bridge six inches at its center and “seriously” undermined its north abutment. “Those two things, especially the undermining of the abutment, put this bridge in a tenuous spot,” Jenness said. “It wouldn’t take too much flooding to push this off of its foundations.”

Thursday’s work was done as part of the $2.2 million, grant-funded Sanborn Covered Bridge restoration project.

VHT was awarded the contract to remove the bridge on Wednesday through an expedited process, in order to start the work ahead of Debby.

“We work on a lot of historic preservation jobs and a lot of those are federally funded,” Jenness said. “All of the things that happen on those jobs need to OK’d by different federal agencies and that usually take months. We had a turnaround in a day to say that we could do this method of taking apart some of the bridge, to be able to get it off the river. So pretty amazing that they’re willing to see the emergency and allow us to do this.”

Bridge restoration will be done under a separate contract which has not been awarded yet.

After taking measures to flood-proof the Sanborn Bridge Thursday, Vermont Heavy Timber will remove the superstructure after Debby has passed.

Plans are to return the restored bridge to the site on new elevated abutments, which would raise the historic span two feet above the 100-year flood level.

VHT will save, catalog, and re-use the timber frame, trusses, and decking. They will be stored at a location to be determined. The siding was deemed scrap and will be disposed of through a biomass plant.

The work is not connected to a recent flood mitigation study that recommended the permanent removal of the Sanborn Covered Bridge, and 2-6 feet of fill from its southern approach, as the best flood reduction strategy for downtown Lyndon.

The study will be discussed further during a Hazard Mitigation Committee meeting the week of Aug. 19.

The proposal has received cautious support from members of the Select Board, who expressed a willingness to re-locate a renovated Sanborn Bridge to dry land if it would significantly reduce flood impacts.

The Sanborn Covered Bridge was originally constructed on Centre Street in 1869, was moved to its present location in 1960, and was purchased by the town in 2022.

The town also acquired a two-acre property at the south abutment, the future site of Sanborn Covered Bridge Park, and a 25-foot right of way connecting to Route 122 at the north abutment.

Jenness, who also serves as director of the bridge watch program for the Vermont Covered Bridge Society, said it was important to preserve the state’s historic covered bridges.

“I see these bridges as being this really important part of the built history of Vermont,” he said.

“They speak to Vermont’s past and how Vermont has grown and changed as a state. They also speak to the ingenuity of Vermonters — and humanity — to be able to span [rivers] with wood trusses. They are the pinnacle of wood building, I think.”

For more information on the Sanborn Bridge renovation project visit https://www.lyndonvt.org/?page_id=3107