Covered Bridges on Two Wheels

The Flint Covered Bridge is one of the several covered bridges located close to each other in the Tunbridge area. There seems to be a little confusion as to when this bridge was built. The World Guide to Covered Bridges lists the build date as 1874, and at one time the signs gracing the portals had the same date. Currently, the signs read 1845, and other sources claim this date to be the correct one.

The origin of the Flint Bridge name is unknown, but it has also been called the North Tunbridge Bridge (for the locality it is in) and the Justin Morgan Bridge. Justin Morgan owned a farm nearby, and was the owner of the stallion from which the Vermont Morgan horse breed descended.

The Queenpost truss of this bridge is the longest in the state at about 87 feet long, which is pushing the limit of the effectiveness of that type of truss. Not surprisingly then, the bridge underwent a rehabilitation in 1969 carried out by Milton Graton of New Hampshire who repaired several other bridges in the VT/NH region. During the work, the bridge was raised 2 feet to be higher above the White River, and the camber was restored to it. For a bridge reaching close to 200 years of age, it is in great shape. The camber can be clearly seen in the first photo of the slide show above by looking either at the eave of the roof, or the bottom of the bridge.

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The siding of the bridge has not been installed very tightly (or if it was, the wood shrank considerably) and lots of light can be seen peeking through the boards when looking at the interior. The gaps in the siding have also made an interesting pattern on the outside of the bridge where the shape of the main members of the queenpost truss can be seen. Possibly contributing to this "shadowing" of the truss is the fact that the siding appears to be nailed directly to the trusses, rather than using furring strips.

Visiting the bridge:

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Bicknell Hill Road, where the bridge is located, is a narrow back road, but paved on the end that leads to/from Route 110. Just on the other side of the bridge, the pavement ends. (If you bear to the left from here, you will eventually end up at the Moxley Covered Bridge less than a mile away).

No parking has been established at the bridge. However, the eastern end of the bridge empties onto a triangular intersection where you may find room to park on the side of the road, and not be too obstructive of traffic. At the time of my visit, traffic was very light.