Covered Bridges on Two Wheels
A photographic journey to Vermont's Covered Bridges
East Fairfield Bridge
Current Status: Open
Location: East Fairfield, on Bridge Street
Crosses: Black Creek
GPS: 44.786067N, 72.862402W
Built: 1865 Length: 67 feet
Truss Design: Queenpost
WGN*: VT-06-03 NRHP**: Yes
* WGN: World Guide to Covered Bridges Number
**NRHP: Listed on National Register of Historic Places
The East Fairfield Bridge was built over a former mill pond in 1865. The pond was formed by the construction of a dam just downstream from the bridge, the remains of which can still be seen. Also visible are the ruins of a gristmill and sawmill built on the site.
Over the years the bridge has been subjected to many repairs including a reconstruction in 1967. More repairs were conducted in 1973-1974 but they were also short-lived. The bridge was closed to all traffic in 1987 and the road on either side of it abandoned. Neglect quickly set in and it deteriorated rapidly. In the early 1990s the floor was repaired so that it could be safe for pedestrians, but still remained closed to motor vehicles. At some point around that time, huge steel I-beams were installed above the floor and tied to the bottom chords of the trusses to save the bridge from collapse.
In 2009, the bridge was completely rehabilitated and reopened (with newly rebuilt approach roads) in July of that year. Typically with these more recent renovations or reconstructions, accounts of the work done can be found on the Internet, but thus far I have not been able to find anything. Please comment below if you have any leads so that I can update this page properly.
I visited the bridge in September of 2009, mere months after the rebuild, so the new condition of it was quite evident. It did provide a nice opportunity to see the difference between the lighter colored new wood compared to the darker color of the original truss members. And the pungent new-wood smell was fantastic!
The wood siding of covered bridges as well as the flooring was expected to wear and need replacement periodically, so all the new wood does not negate the historic nature of the bridge. As long as the trusses are substantially original, which you can see in this case are.
Visiting the bridge:
East Fairfield Bridge sits only a few hundred feet from Route 36, a major road through Fairfield. Bridge Street is paved and a substantial dirt parking area is located on the south side of the bridge.
This location of this bridge is such that it doesn't receive much traffic, as there are only a handful of residents on the road. It is probably used more by tourists than anything.
You can probably tell by the tire marks on the new flooring above, there isn't a whole lot of room inside the bridge for pedestrians. However, there are nice wide guardrails that you can hop onto if you happen to need to move out of the way of a vehicle.