Covered Bridges on Two Wheels
A photographic journey to Vermont's Covered Bridges
Green River Bridge
Current Status: Open
Location: Guilford, on Jacksonville Stage Road
Crosses: Green River
GPS: 42.775475N, -72.667269W
Built: 1870 Length: 104.5 feet
Truss Design: Town lattice
WGN*: VT-13-04 NRHP**: Yes
* WGN: World Guide to Covered Bridges Number
**NRHP: Listed on National Register of Historic Places
The Green River Bridge is one of those bridges that is way out in the middle of nowhere, but still used everyday by the locals. The hamlet where the bridge resides is so small, it may not even have a name. But at one time it was the center of activity.
In 1811 a crib dam was built just upstream of the bridge site to power a mill. The dam, built from logs and rubble, still exists although it has had some modern repairs to the abutments. It survived largely intact a flood in 1869 that detroyed the mill and the bridge. The current bridge was built in 1870 as a replacement.
There seems to be no record of major repairs until very recently. The bridge had developed a rack and needed some repairs that led the load rating to be lowered to 4 tons. Being where it is, it was critical to either make repairs to get the load rating back up so that emergency equipment could access residents, or it would have to be bypassed. The study that was conducted ultimately lead to the decision to repair.
In the summer of 2016 the bridge was closed while the trusses were repaired to eliminate the rack, some wood members replaced, trunnels added where missing or replaced where rotted. The floor system received upgrades including a new deck and guardrails. The siding was replaced and the ill-conceived asphalt shingle roof was replaced with a more appropriate standing seem metal roof.
Visiting the bridge:
The Green River Bridge is surrounded by dirt roads in all directions. Some of them in better shape than others. As I was coming from the direction of the Creamery Bridge in Brattleboro, I came in via Route 5 to Guilford Center Road to Jacksonville Road. Ed Barna's guide also suggests that this is the best route to take.
Despite this being the "best" route, I found the road to be in fairly rough shape in spots considering I was on a motorcycle. Washboards going downhill and turning all at the same time gets a little exciting, to say the least.
There is no official parking at the bridge, but the intersections on either side are wide enough for a smaller vehicle (like a motorcycle) to park and not be in the way of traffic. Traffic? What traffic? An alternative is to park in a wide spot in front of the church on the north side of the bridge.
This stop is a must though, as the picturesque location of the bridge just can't be beat.