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Bissell Covered Bridge (1951) 21-06-04 #3

Franklin County, Massachusetts

Photos 

Map 

Street View 

Description 

From New England Travels blog: The Bissell Covered Bridge, this one, was built in 1951. There had been an earlier bridge here built in 1880, but was condemned in the 1940s. When the town chose to replace the bridge, they decided to replace it not with a modern open bridge, but with another covered bridge. The wood is Douglas fir from Oregon, and shingles are cedar.

This bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in 1995, and would have been replaced by the state with a modern open bridge, except Charlemont said no thank you in no uncertain terms. A stalemate lasted some 14 years while the state built that temporary bridge in the background, and the town continued to push for the renovation of the covered bridge, in the foreground. The bridge in the foreground won." https://newenglandtravels.blogspot.com/2009/11/bissell-cover...

Bissell Bridge Time-Line (from on-site kiosk) The bridge was sited near an old mill dam and pond not far from the house of Henry W. Bissell. The town of Charlemont appropriated $1,000 for its construction in 1880.The bridge was built in 1881. In 1951 a newer Long-Truss bridge was built for about $50,000 because the older bridge was deteriorated. Today's bridge was built in 2004 to accommodate modern roadway requirements at a cost of $3 million.

Facts 

Overview
Long through truss bridge over Mill Brook on Heath Road in Charlemont
Location
Charlemont, Franklin County, Massachusetts
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built in 1951 to replace older bridge.
Builder
- T.J. Harvey Co.
Design
Long through truss variant
Dimensions
Total length: 95.0 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on February 8, 2004
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.63158, -72.86888   (decimal degrees)
42°37'54" N, 72°52'08" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
18/674741/4722105 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Heath
Inventory numbers
WGCB 21-06-04 #3 (World Guide to Covered Bridges number)
NRHP 04000083 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 59555 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Built 2004 (83)
Built during 2000s (743)
Charlemont, Massachusetts (3)
Covered (3,487)
Franklin County, Massachusetts (103)
Have street view (30,595)
Long truss (79)
Massachusetts (1,263)
 Modern (2,513)
NR-listed (3,028)
Open (41,564)
T.J. Harvey Co. (1)
Through truss (19,327)
Total length 75-100 feet (7,124)
Truss (38,720)

Update Log 

  • May 3, 2020: New photos from Chester Gehman
  • August 16, 2019: New Street View added by Timothy and Joann Phillips
  • February 4, 2014: Added by Jack Schmidt

Related Bridges 

Sources 

  • Jack Schmidt - jjturtle [at] earthlink [dot] net
  • Wikipedia
  • Timothy and Joann Phillips
  • Chester Gehman - gehmanc2000 [at] yahoo [dot] com
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Comments 

Bissell Covered Bridge 21-06-04 #3
Posted August 18, 2021, by Michael Taylor

According to Wikipedia this bridge is NR listed.