Covered Bridges on Two Wheels
A photographic journey to Vermont's Covered Bridges
Brown Bridge
Current Status: Open
Location: Shrewsbury, on Upper Cold River Road
Crosses: Cold River
GPS: 43.5663N ,72.919034W
Built: 1880 Length: 115.5 feet
Truss Design: Town lattice
WGN*: VT-11-09 NRHP**: Yes
* WGN: World Guide to Covered Bridges Number
**NRHP: Listed on National Register of Historic Places
Generally, I have not been mentioning the names of the people who have built the covered bridges presented in these pages because many of them are unknown. It was really no big deal back then who built a bridge, and town records probably didn't bother to record that information. However, in the case of the Brown Bridge, we know that it was built by Nichols Powers. But why is that special? Because this was the last bridge he built, at age 63. And he also built the large two-lane Blenheim Covered Bridge in North Blenheim, New York. Unfortunately, that rare bridge was destroyed in the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.
The Brown Bridge (named for a nearby resident) is nestled deep in the hills and woods of Shrewsbury, in a hollow carved by the Cold River (and thus it is also sometimes known as the Hollow Bridge).
Until 2002, the bridge had undergone little in repair. It was (and still is) considered one of the most original covered bridges in Vermont. However, time and weather took some toll and some rotted truss members, bracing and the siding were replaced.
On August 28, 2011, this bridge almost suffered the same fate as the Blenheim Bridge as flood waters from Tropical Storm Irene sent water coursing through the hollow. I visited the bridge just over a year later, and the damage to the area was more than apparent. The bridge, thankfully, appears to have survived relatively unscathed, with the bridge approaches rebuilt.
In the slide show above, photo 3 is the view of the river just downstream of the bridge. The steep banks that line the river were eroded away in places. Photo number 4 shows the "road" that leads to the bridge from the west. It is no more than a one-lane path, but you can see how it had begun to be eaten away. Where the road was eroded drops a good 50 feet (or more) down to the riverbed.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) produced a video (embedded on the right) about the Brown Bridge, the storm, and the hopes of the residents to get it reopened. The video ends with a statement that the bridge was planned to be open in 2012. When I visited in 2012, it indeed had been repaired to the point where it could be crossed on foot but the roadway leading to it was still impassible and remained closed with concrete barriers barring travel.
An engineering study was conducted in August of 2013 and an outline of needed repairs was drawn up, including complete replacements of all siding, much of which was damaged in the flood.
You can read highlights of the report on the web site of the Vermont Covered Bridge Society. I revisited the bridge in late September of 2015 and the repairs outlined in the 2013 engineering study were underway, and almost complete. The repairs consisted of (in part) sistering of some of the lattice members, new siding, and rebuilding of the approaches. At the time, the road was still impassable however, due to the washout.
Fast forward to August of 2018, when I visited the bridge for a third time. The bridge repairs had been completed three years prior and the road has been rebuilt. It now stands proud again open to traffic.
Visiting the bridge:
As with most bridges, you have two choices of how to get there. The first, and most direct, takes you to the "top" of Upper Cold River Road where it branches off from Cold River Road. This is the closest route from "civilization" and requires only minimal travel on dirt roads. Here there used to be concrete barriers preventing travel down the road and signs proclaiming it to be closed in the winter. These are all gone now and I have seen photographic proof that it remains open in the winter, but I do not know how well snow is removed from the road.
The one-lane road, comprised of well-packed gravel, is only about a tenth of a mile long before you find a crude parking area.
The other way to the bridge is much longer and involves quite a bit of travel on dirt. On my first visit, I did not attempt this as I had not prepared to go this way (I didn't know that the road had been closed due to the flood damage) and didn't have a detailed map with me to find the other way around.* I was prepared on my second visit to the bridge, at which time the first way to the bridge was still closed.
Approaching the bridge from the east requires travel on hard-packed dirt and gravel roads for about 2.5 miles. At a point about 1/3 mile from the bridge, the dirt road narrows to essentially a logging road only one lane wide and not entirely well maintained. You may want to skip this road if on a large touring motorcycle.
This end of the bridge previously had a concrete barrier to prevent motor vehicle entry into the bridge until flood repairs could be conducted. With the bridge back in service, the barriers are gone and this end, while still not really well-maintained, has another very crude pull-off to park in.
Make no mistake, this is one of the most remote, wooded, mountainous areas you will travel to view a covered bridge in Vermont. So remote that vandals often tag the bridge with graffiti prompting the town to set up video cameras on both sides of the bridge.
* I have found cell service is sometimes non-existent at many of Vermont's covered bridges, since they tend to be off the beaten path. Therefore, your phone's built-in mapping apps may not work. I have since discovered a couple different mapping apps that download maps to your phone's memory and therefore are always available, whether you have cell service or not.