Upper Falls Bridge Reopens

WGN VT-14-08

 

Weathersfield, Vt. January 26, 2008 - Closed for renovation since the summer of 2007, the Upper Falls covered bridge will be opened to traffic this weekend.

The 127-foot Town Lattice truss bridge received new chords, floor system, roof, and siding at a cost of $1.2 million. Work on the abutments is scheduled for this coming spring. The bridge currently serves five families.

Also known as Downers Bridge, it was built in 1840 to cross the Black River. Other covered bridges built in this era are the Depot Bridge in Pittsford (1840), the Sanderson Bridge in Brandon (c1838), The Great Eddy Bridge in Waitsfield (1833), and the Taftsville Bridge in Taftsville/Woodstock (1836). All of these bridges are on the National Register of Historic Sites, and are an active part of Vermont's highway system.