Covered Bridges on Two Wheels
A photographic journey to Vermont's Covered Bridges
Longley Bridge
 June 2011 |  June 2011 |
|---|---|
 June 2018 |  June 2011 |
 June 2018 |  June 2018 |
 June 2018 |  June 2018 |
 June 2011 |  June 2018 |
Built in 1863 by Sheldon and Savannah Jewett, the Longley Bridge is one of the first in the area constructed by the brothers. It has also been known in years past as the Harnois Bridge and the Samuel Head (or just Head) Bridge. Presumably the alternate names are based upon adjacent landowners as is likely the more popular name of Longley.
Like many covered bridges, it has seen some repairs over the years. In 1992 a major restoration was performed by Jan Lewandoski, who is a Vermont wright with many years of experience in wood framing and bridge repair. More recently, it was completely rebuilt.
Current Status: Open
Location: Montgomery, on Longley Bridge Road
Crosses: Trout River
GPS: 44.907223N, 72.655604W
Built: 2017 Length: 84.5 feet
Truss Design: Town lattice
WGN*: VT-06-08#2 NRHP**: Not eligible
* WGN: World Guide to Covered Bridges Number
**NRHP: Listed on National Register of Historic Places
When I visited this bridge in 2011, there were some obvious signs that it needed work, despite the 1992 restoration. It had a rack (or lean) to it (as seen in the first photo of the slideshow above). Also visible in the fourth photo (although a little hard to detect) is that the trusses were bowed outward to the north (look at the bottom chord near the floor on the extreme left of the photo).
I can't find any information about when it started exhibiting these signs of disrepair, but it seems that high water may have been the culprit. It was like this before Tropical Storm Irene hit the area, and northern Vermont did not see anywhere near the devastation as in the south. So it had to be some other flooding that caused it.
Whatever the reason for the bowing of the trusses, in September of 2012 I rode by the bridge and saw that it was closed and bypassed by a temporary bridge. It apparently took quite a while to get going on it, but reconstruction started in the spring of 2017. The bridge was reopened on November 6, 2017.
A re-visit to the bridge in June of 2018 revealed that the Longley Bridge was entirely rebuilt. The trusses, floor beams, floor, siding... everything is brand new except for some roof structure members. The floor beams are constructed of glue-laminated (glu-lam) wood, for better strength, but everything else appears to be of dimensional lumber and thus an authentic (and faithful) recreation of the original bridge.
Visiting the bridge:
Longley Bridge is easily found just off Route 118. Previous to the reconstruction, there were no real good places to park, and that situation hasn't improved a whole lot. Especially for motorcyclists. What appears to be a semi-formal parking area on the east side (Route 118 side) is very loose gravel and sloped downward toward the bridge. Definitely not a good place to park a motorcycle. There is a pull-off on the west side of the bridge, but this is mostly loose sand with a little gravel and stones. Again, not a good place for a motorcycle but better than the parking on the east side.
It is fairly easy to gain access to the riverside to view the bridge from underneath.