Chester Gehman

1. The information in the description of this bridge, as found in the New Jersey Historic Bridge Data for Hunterdon County,is attributed to Victor C. Darnell (Darnell, p. 85). This is incorrect. Darnell is cited as a bibliographical source, and pertains only to information concerning the Smith Bridge Company (Directory Of American Bridge-Building Companies 1840-1900)

2. Smith Bridge Company WAS a "smaller company", as was Massillon Bridge, when compared to larger companies of the time such as Kellogg and King, for example. While Darnell has no information for Smith, shop capacities in the year 1894 were: Massillon, 6.0 tons; Kellogg, 26 tons; King, 18 tons. By 1903, Kellogg was out of business, bu King's capacity had increased to 30 tons, while Massillon was at 8 tons. (information from Darnell)

3. Smith sold the company in 1890 to Toledo Bridge Company, who in turn sold it to the American Bridge Company in 1901.

If the information about the Point Mountain Road Bridge from Hunterdon County data is correct, then a build date of 1905 is possible. Quoting from the NJ Data page, "Smith, however, went back into business as Smith Bridge Company. How much past 1905 the small operation continued is not known." Darnell is silent on this point. There are several bridges on BH built after 1890 attributed to Smith. Are they correct? Who knows?

Rather unusual truss configuration. Any guess on truss type and builder?

Not sure of source of "Red Car Bridge." Nimke (The Central New England Railway Story" refers to it as Red Stone Bridge.

The summer of 2020 has been a dry one, and predictably, the Harvey Mountain Road Bridge has made another appearance, albeit a partial one.

Art--

Glad you like. Yes, #8 is a nice one.

Chet

Nick:

The bridge you are referring to is the Monadnock Mills Bridge (BH 49549) It is a bowstring designed by Thomas Moseley and is one of only four, I believe, still extant.

Chet

Bridge has been replaced by a Bailey bridge which is likely to be permanent as road serves a few houses and is a dead-end.

Since many bridges take the name of the road they are on, why not call it the N Old Covered Bridge Lane Bridge. The other names under contention could be listed under Alternate Names. Just a suggestion.

The date of construction of the Bridge Street Bridge is given as 1951 in MACRIS. The source of this date,oddly enough, is the date molded in the guardrail end posts.

According to Bernard A. Drew, a noted and reliable historian of the Brekshire area and its bridges, the Bridge Street Bridge was actually built in 1952, after a flood seriously damaged the previous bridge, an 1880 Lenticular through truss. The attached photo from the Berkshire Edge shows the bridge at that time. ("Bridge Street Bridge flood 1952")

(Photo by David Scribner, Berkshire Edge)

Great Barrington seems to be between a rock and a hard place over this bridge, and it will probably be closed until 2023. That's when state grant money will be available to replace it. Meanwhile, to re-hab the bridge would cost in the neighborhood of $400,000, a sum Great Barrington is reluctant to spend on a bridge that will be replaced anyway. So it will be pedestrians only until then.

Bridge has been removed and construction started on a boring replacement.

From the "We don't make this stuff up, folks" Department:

Seems little green men from Mars have taken an interest in covered bridges. On a recent visit to the Upper Sheffield Bridge a sign/plaque was seen marking the event:

Donated By:

History Channel's ANCIENT ALIENS

Welcome to the site of the first UFO Incident Officially Inducted Into The U.S. As Historically True.

Sculpture By: Len Momeau New Hartford, CT

WWW.ufopark.org

WE ARE NOT ALONE

Done!

You are right, Ian. That new photo shows it clearly.

I am doubtful that this bridge was located at Rockfall.

While it is a NHM&W RR bridge, the two photos (likely taken

at the same time) show a roadway arch as part of the stone

abutment. While I have not visited the site personally, the

photo on the NERAIL Photo Archive website shows no such

arch. (Link provided on successor page BH 61947 Rockfall

High Bridge.) In addition, no roadway is evident on the TOPO

map for 1893 or Google Earth. Presumably the bridge location

is in the Middletown area, since the photographer (Bundy)

had his studio there, but for me the location of this bridge

is still a mystery.