Covered Bridges on Two Wheels
A photographic journey to Vermont's Covered Bridges
Gates Farm Bridge
Current Status: Private, Pedestrian Only
Location: Cambridge, off Route 15
Crosses: Seymour River
GPS: 44.645714N, 72.872322W
Built: 1995 Length: 60 feet
Truss Design: Burr arch
WGN*: VT-08-04#2 NRHP**: Yes
* WGN: World Guide to Covered Bridges Number
**NRHP: Listed on National Register of Historic Places
The Gates Farm Bridge, located in Cambridge, is another one of those bridges that probably hundreds, if not thousands, of people pass by everyday and take for granted. Located in a field on the Gates Farm just off busy Route 15, it's a common site to commuters. In the past, it's been known as the Little Bridge, Little Cambridge Bridge and the Seymour Bridge.
The history of this bridge is an interesting one. Originally, it was on Route 15 only a few hundred yards from where it sits today, and just down the road from the Cambridge Village (or Big) Bridge. While at this location, it survived the Flood of 1927 despite being washed partially off its abutments. It fetched up against some trees which saved it from washing off completely.
Seymour River relocation diagram
In 1950 the state made some improvements in the area of the bridge. The first was to replace the Big Bridge with a new span, and the second was to divert the course of the Seymour River.
The diagram I crudely marked up to the left shows the original course of the Seymour River (blue dotted line). The Little Bridge carried what is now called Route 15 over the Seymour River, at the marked spot. The state diverted the River so that it would empty out into the Lamoille River upstream of its original point (solid blue line). This rendered the Little Bridge unnecessary. But the river diversion now cut off access to 60 acres of Earl Gates' fields.
At about the same time, the state started building a new steel and concrete bridge to replace the two lane Cambridge Village Bridge. Locals know this new span as the "Wrong Way" bridge because it curves contrary to the natural flow of Route 15 (how it ended up being that way is another story in itself).
On the right is an image taken by the Vermont Agency of Transportation during the relocation project showing the two covered bridges in their original locations, and the river diverted already. (Click on the photo to see it larger).
So the State now had on its hands two covered bridges that were no longer needed. The Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont was looking to add a covered bridge to its collection of historic buildings. They asked the state if they could have one of them. The answer was yes, and they chose the two-lane Big Bridge. The state gave it to the museum with the caveat that they had to pay to have it moved. It is now installed over a man-made pond on the museum grounds and is known as the Shelburne Museum Bridge.
The Little Bridge was saved when the state, in order to restore access to the Gates Farm fields, installed it in its present location over the Seymour River.
Construction of the "Wrong-Way Bridge"
Courtesy of the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration
The saga of the Little (now known as the Gates Farm) Bridge didn't end there, though. An agreement was drawn up between the Gates and the State making the state responsible for the upkeep of the bridge, despite the fact that it is privately owned by the family. Apparently though, the State never actually signed it, and the bridge fell into disrepair. This area is frequently flooded by the Lamoille River in the spring, and the bridge had received many soakings. In the early 1990s, the bridge had become bad enough to require major repair. The State balked at first, claiming the agreement was not in force. But the Gates argued that they had created the problem by diverting the river. The State relented and agreed to repair the bridge.
When the contractor (Blow & Cote of Morrisville, VT) started dismantling it in 1994, they found that many of the Burr Arch truss members were beyond saving and the bridge was reconstructed out of mostly new material. During the reconstruction, it was desired to raise the bridge up, but leave the floor at the same level, to provide better clearance for farm equipment. So the floor beams were suspended from the bottom chord with steel rods. In the third photo of the slideshow above, you can see plates on the bottom chord and the head of the rods coming up from below. Normally, the floor beams would be running from one side of the bridge to the other right where those bolts and plates are. And then the floor would be laid on top of those beams, completely hiding that bottom chord from view. This is one of the rare cases where the bottom chord of a truss is visible above the floor level.
Visiting the bridge:
The bridge is easy to find, but it is on private property. I have not heard of any problems with people visiting. It is still in use by the farm, so it would be strong enough for you to drive over, however, I would not recommend it due to it being privately owned.
Because it is in a flood plain, the rudimentary track that leads to the bridge is usually pretty muddy... especially if it has rained recently. On most times that I have been to the bridge (or just passing by), the path to the bridge was impassable by motorcycle (unless you have a dual-sport type bike).
Also notice that the Google Map was drawn using old maps as reference. The Seymour River doesn't go under Route 15 anymore... as discussed previously above. I have sent feedback to Google to have this fixed. Let's see if they do it!