Covered Bridges on Two Wheels
A photographic journey to Vermont's Covered Bridges
Grist Mill Bridge
Current Status: Open
Location: Cambridge, on Canyon Road
Crosses: Brewster River
GPS: 44.636646N, 72.825314W
Built: 1872 Length: 84.5 feet
Truss Design: Burr arch
WGN*: VT-08-01 NRHP**: Yes
* WGN: World Guide to Covered Bridges Number
**NRHP: Listed on National Register of Historic Places
The Grist Mill Bridge is located in the village of Jeffersonville, within the town of Cambridge, one of three covered bridges in the municipality. It has been come to be known by a slew of different names. Its official name of "Grist Mill" comes from the mill that is just downstream.
The names "Grand Canyon Bridge" and "Canyon Bridge" come from the gorge near the bridge and the road it is on, the name "Brewster River Bridge" comes from the waterway it crosses and the name "Jeffersonville Bridge" is pretty self-explanatory. It has also been known as the Bryant Bridge, for a local landowner, perhaps? And finally, it's also known as the Scott Bridge. Again, I haven't come across why that might be, but it should not be confused with the Scott Bridge in Townshend, Vermont.
Unless you are looking for it, you might miss the Grist Mill Bridge. It is just off the lower end of Route 108, before you start the enjoyable climb through Smuggler's Notch.
Not much history is written about the bridge (at least none that I can find on the Internet) except for a story of how one of the approaches was washed away in a 1952 storm. That end of the bridge settled somewhat and was jacked up and placed on cribbing which was subsequently washed out in another rain. The abutment was replaced with concrete, stabilizing the bridge for use once again.
An inspection in 2001 revealed that while the bridge was in good overall condition, a rehabilitation needed to be performed to upgrade its carrying capacity. In 2004 it was removed from the river so that work could be performed on the abutments. It was disassembled and the needed repairs were made, reusing a large majority of the original timbers.
The web site of the Vermont Covered Bridge Society has an extensive report on the repair process. There are many photographs of the bridge in various stages of rebuild, which includes photos of the trusses without any siding. The photos give you a nice view of how a Burr arch bridge is built.
Visiting the bridge:
The bridge is just a few hundred feet off of Route 108 on Canyon Road, which (at least when I visited) is a somewhat soft dirt road. As the road turns into the bridge it also appears to keep going straight, but this is a large parking area that also serves as access for a nature trail. On the other side of the bridge is another small parking area where another trail head also starts. On the weekends in the summer, it is not unusual to find all this parking filled.
The trails wind along either bank of the Brewster River and afford nice views of the bridge from the side (even though it is hidden somewhat by trees). The trail system, from what I've read, seems to be discontinuous and crosses private land (by permission). It eventually leads to the Brewster River Gorge where there is a falls and swimming holes. In the summer months, don't be surprised to see skinny dipping.
Being where it is, the bridge is an obvious stop for tourists, but traffic is still pretty light allowing you to cross the bridge on foot in relative safety.