Vermont and New Hampshire are covered bridge country and we saw several yesterday and today. In Vermont we saw the Shoreham railroad bridge, a classic Howe truss design.
It's free span of over 100' is quite remarkable, considering that the main structural members are just wood timbers.
Today we rode about 15 miles on the Grafton county, NH rail trail and beside the trail was this covered bridge.
It's the Packard bridge and while this one was built in 1991, the original bridge dates from the late 1700's. The main reason that the bridges are covered is to protect the heavy structural members from sun, rain, moisture, and rot damage.
Near Andover, NH we found the Keniston bridge, built in 1882.
Back here the bridges are considered historical gems and any damage is quickly repaired so as to keep the structures in tip-top shape.
I mentioned the Grafton County, NH trail earlier. This is a rail conversion that was done in 1996. We began riding it in Lebanon, NH and the first 15 miles of it were quite do-able with our road bikes. But after Canaan, the trail base turned to a course gravel that was quite uncomfortable and rough. Needing to make the miles today, our next to last day, we abandoned the old railroad bed for the hillier, but smoother asphalt surface. Here's a couple of pictures from today's ride on the trail.
I'll close with this image of a mushroom we came across at our stopping point of Gilmanton, NH.
Hi guys, it was wonderful meeting you today in our lovely town of Gilmanton, we love your blog, and are familiar with the rail to trails circuit you were on today, we've done a small section of it on snowshoes at the southern end, do enjoy your ride tomorrow, I think you'll be seeing even more color , so make sure you get some photos, they will warm you this winter as you dit by the fireplace watching the snowflakes, bonne route !
ReplyDeleteGood looking mushrooms and beautiful bridges.
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