Covered Bridges on Two Wheels
A photographic journey to Vermont's Covered Bridges
Gorham Bridge
 September 2012 |  September 2012 |
|---|---|
 September 2012 |  September 2012 |
Current Status: Open
Location: Pittsford, on Gorham Bridge Road
Crosses: Otter Creek
GPS: 43.680043N, 73.037558W
Built: 2004 Length: 114 feet
Truss Design: Town lattice
WGN*: VT-11-04#2 NRHP**: not eligible
* WGN: World Guide to Covered Bridges Number
**NRHP: Listed on National Register of Historic Places
Located just a short distance from the Cooley Bridge in Pittsford is this newly reconstructed town lattice bridge. The Gorham Bridge is also known as the Goodnough Bridge, but I cannot find the source of either name. It would be safe to say both names were (or are) those of adjacent landowners.
The bridge that stands here now is technically a replacement bridge, which is ineligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, but the original bridge carried that distinction.
Like its neighboring bridges (Cooley and Depot), the Gorham Bridge sits fairly low over the Otter Creek and most likely has seen frequently floodings. Indeed, in the great Flood of 1927, it was washed off its abutments. It remained intact and was hauled up out of the creek and re-installed. After that, it had repairs made in the 50's and 70's, but still remained essentially unchanged.
Age (and frequent wettings) caught up to it, and sometime in the early 2000's the bridge was closed to automobiles. It remained open to foot and snowmobile traffic until the decision was made, and the funds available, for a renovation. It was completely removed from over the creek and rebuilt on land, with a temporary bridge installed in its place.
Due to a combination of extensive damage and the desire for a 20 ton carrying capacity, the bridge is no longer considered the same original bridge and is now a "replacement" bridge. Despite this, as much of the original timber was re-used, but the load capacity target required replacing some of the historic chords with stronger glu-lam beams. This negated the historic status of the structure. Completion of the rebuild was in December of 2003 with the bridge being lifted onto its new abutments in early 2004.
Visiting the bridge:
Gorham Bridge is located on paved roads, and is easy to find a short distance away from the Cooley Bridge.
A large turn-out parking area is located on the west side of the bridge, and here you can still see the large flat area where the bridge sat while being rebuilt.
The parking area, while large, is not particularly well-maintained, so finding a good place to put down the kick stand of your bike could be tricky. I opted to park on the east side of the bridge, at the intersection of Elm Street (which leads to/from the Cooley Bridge) and Gorham Bridge Road.
Vehicle traffic here seemed to be pretty light, so crossing the bridge on foot was not a problem. The bridge is fairly wide, so there's a good amount of room inside for you and a vehicle to co-exist.