OldCanterburyRoadOverMerrimack01
This bridge was once a direct link between Boscawen, NH and Canterbury, NH.
Photo taken by David P. Timmins
BH Photo #125713
Another update - http://www.concordmonitor.com/news/localstate/11149497-95/ca...
I'll swing by for some shots after the just beginning to melt snow-pack is gone.
They are paying $400K for it to be taken away:
http://www.newhampshire.com/article/20140320/NEWS09/14032998...
Anybody want a bridge?
Regards,
Art S.
Town Meeting time -
Two sets of townspeople to decide...
http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/10982265-95/after-more-th...
Now-removed road truss bridge over same river several miles south at the Hannah Duston monument in Penacook along RR. Two or three span thru truss (Pratt probably) with westernmost span gone before 1965 when first seen; amazingly still there in 1992 and later in the 1990's but removed by 2008 but piers still in river. Mystery that for decades the remaining spans were left standing and not removed; a local man told me during one visit said an overweight truck had fallen through (in the late 1940's (?)(!)) and the new highway bridge built several hundred feet upstream replaced it which itself has since been replaced.
Anyone know the complete story? I took pictures in 1992 and later but can't post them here.
Get a load of this article http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/3144066-95/bridge-boscawe... the engineer says the bridge could collapse at any moment. What a crock. I know what a truss about to collapse looks like and this is not it. If they want to waste tax dollars bulldozing a historic bridge fine but don't hire an engineer that is going to be Captain Drama and scare people into supporting demolition.
New Hampshire, never a friendly place for bridge preservation, seems on a tear lately for taking down the last of their surviving historic metal truss bridges.
The Depot Street Bridge and the Memorial Bridge of Portsmouth were to be removed in 2012. The Memorial Bridge was rated the highest in value but was removed for a replica that is widely celebrated.
The NH Department of Transportation could give PennDot a run for its money in hostility towards bridge preservation. The state is proud of its hard-boiled, pro-business climate that actively eschews using monies for culture, preservation, education, tourism, or aesthetics.
New Hampshire increasingly conservative nature makes money set aside for preservation projects highly unlikely. But even the liberal daily The Concord Monitor has been editorializing mightly for the replacement of the Sewalls Falls Bridge near its printing plant.
The preservation groups in NH are cowed and wouldn't even come out to support a bill I sponsored advocating a historic bridge storage depot for storing historic spans for reuse. This was modeled on Vermont's successful one.
My advice for those wanting to see truss bridges in Northern New England? Go to Vermont!
Steven W Lindsey
state rep
Keene, NH
Yes, the west side of the bridge is overgrown with massive poison ivy. Unless you are immune, its easier to photo from the east side.
"Under the new plan, the towns will erect historic, educational monuments where the ends of the bridge once were." Yeah, great idea...this article claims that the bridge is a liability--as if so many people have injured themselves since 1965--any records? Anyone? This is a sensible solution? Let's waste as much taxpayer money as possible by spending big money to demolish a perfectly intact historic bridge and put up plaques about what we have done, rather than do a little sandblasting, repairing the existing railing, rehabbing the deck, putting on a coat of paint, and clearing trailway at either end so people can really educate themselves by actually getting to see an engineering marvel like this for themselves--for a fraction of the cost of demolition and removal! Makes perfect sense to me!!! I think new barf bag dispensers should be installed next to these plaques--once taxpayers realize just how much of their hard-earned money their elected officials wasted on this ridiculousness, they're gonna need them!! /8>Q
Sadly this Bridge is now doomed - http://tiny.cc/s0xfdw
It's none so far away I'll try to get over to snap some photos sometime soon.
It was designed the NH's fist appointed State Engineer, who I wrote about in a recent weblog entry >
http://bridgewright.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/as-mysteries-un...
This bridge might get demolished or preserved: http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201...
Here are a couple of photos taken Oct 4, 2007 of this bridge. It was so grown over I couldn't get a better shot.
Tried to send the images but preview didn't work!
Yes the abutments and pier carried a Childs Brothers built McCallum truss bridge which was lost to high water in '07
Photos of The Rainbow clearly show braces fit to those Spring-stones.