Mt. Orne Covered Bridge Re-Opens After 3-Month Closure

Paul Hayes phayes@littletonrecord.com Staff Writer Feb 21, 2024 Updated Feb 21, 2024

 

 

LANCASTER — After a lengthy closure, the Mt. Orne Covered Bridge was re-opened on Wednesday afternoon.

The cross-state bridge connecting Lancaster and Lunenburg had been out of service since it was struck by an oversized vehicle on Nov. 10.

Although the damage was repaired in late December, the bridge remained closed to vehicle traffic until Arnold M. Graton Associates Inc. of Holderness could install mitigation measures.

Those measures include traffic control signage (stop, yield), reflective road markings, and crash bars on either side of the 266-foot-long Howe truss bridge.

While the Mt. Orne bridge was closed, cross-state traffic had been detoured to the Lancaster-Guildhall crossing (5 miles north) and Dalton-Gilman crossing (5.5 miles south).

Earlier this month, Selectman Leon Rideout noted, “There has been some frustration from some residents expressed to me, but I did tell them what we were looking to do, and they seemed all right with that.”

The crash bars, 2x6 boards hung from the bridge portals on chains, include a “low clearance” message in reflective lettering.

Also called headache bars, they warn vehicles exceeding the 12-foot-9 height limit to stop before striking the 112-year-old span.

Crash barriers had previously been installed at covered bridges elsewhere, such as the Saco River Bridge in Conway, N.H.

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation installed the signage, and Graton Associations installed the crash bars.

“We’ll see how these measures go,” Rideout said earlier this month. “Hopefully, they’ll be successful for many years, and we won’t have to deal with this again.”

Meanwhile, the state legislature is considering two bills to increase protections for New Hampshire’s 58 covered bridges, including the Mt. Orne Covered Bridge.

House Bill 1217 would permit municipalities to use video surveillance to identify hit-and-run drivers.

According to the bill’s supporters, HB 1217 would help towns and cities levy fines and recoup costs for expensive bridge repairs.

The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee has recommended HB 1217 as ought to pass, 18-0.

The other bill, House Bill 1457, would increase fines for height and weight limit violations to $500 if the bridge is not damaged, $1,000 if the bridge is damaged, and $2,000 if the incident “substantially impedes the flow of traffic.”

Legislators justified the fines by pointing to the damage caused by oversized vehicles and the immense cost of repairs — even if bridges aren’t struck.

The House Transportation Committee is expected to take action on HB 1457 in the near future.