Covered Bridges on Two Wheels
A photographic journey to Vermont's Covered Bridges
Bowers Bridge
Current Status: Open
Location: West Windsor, on Bible Hill Road
Crosses: Mill Brook
GPS: 43.461325N, 72.490711W
Built: 1919 Length: 45 feet
Truss Design: Tied arch
WGN*: VT-14-11 NRHP**: Yes
* WGN: World Guide to Covered Bridges Number
**NRHP: Listed on National Register of Historic Places
Sometimes known as the Brownsville Bridge, for the locality it is near, the Bowers bridge has had a checkered past.
It was built to serve farms in the Rowe Hill and Sheddsville areas of West Windsor, but more recently has had many brushes with over-sized vehicles.
The biggest blow to the bridge occurred August 28, 2011 when flood waters from Tropical Storm Irene lifted the bridge off its abutments and carried it downstream. The video below, produced by FEMA, documents the damage and reconstruction of the bridge.
Both before and after the bridge's rebuild, it has been damaged many times by trucks striking roof beams. When I visited in 2013, the bridge had been damaged and closed by such a truck despite the warning "headache beams" placed in front of the portals. Although not used in Vermont, other states have placed these beams (typically made of steel) to protect their covered bridges, despite them being aesthetically displeasing. You can see what they looked like in the photo slide show above.
The headache beam on the far (north) side of the bridge had been knocked down by the truck and was laying on the banks of the brook, in pieces.
The town has struggled with what to do to prevent trucks from entering the bridge. The headache beams obviously didn't work, so they were removed. At one point, additional planks of wood were added to the portals, constricting the opening and theoretically disallowing large vehicles to enter. That didn't work, either. It is still not out of the question that the bridge will be permanently closed if the problem continues. Until then, it remains open... for now.
Visiting the bridge:
Even though the bridge is just off Route 44, it (like the Bests Bridge) can be easy to miss because the road it's on is unassuming. Keep an eye out for the town's highway garage.
Bible Hill Road is a dirt road, but you only have to travel a short distance on it. There is a small parking area on the south side of the bridge.
I could not gauge traffic on this road because the bridge was closed when I visited. Suffice it to say that even though the bridge is very narrow, it is also very short, so crossing it on foot is not out of the question, safety-wise.