Historic Iron and Steel Bridges in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont

221 Pages·21.996 MB·English

by  Glenn A. Knoblock

Historic Iron and Steel Bridges
in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont
ALSOBYGLENNA. KNOBLOCK
ANDFROMMCFARLAND
Black Submarines in the United States Navy, 1940–1975 (2011)
African American World War II Casualties and
Decorations in the Navy, Coast Guard and Merchant (2009)
“Strong and Brave Fellows”: New Hampshire’s Black Soldiers and
Sailors of the American Revolution (2003)
Historic Iron and Steel
Bridges in Maine, New
Hampshire and Vermont
G A. K
LENN NOBLOCK
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
ISBN 978-0-7864-4843-2(softcover : acid free paper)
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
© 2012 Glenn A. Knoblock. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Front cover image: a portal view of the Highgate Falls Bridge,
Highgate, Vermont (photograph from the author’s collection)
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 6¡¡, Je›erson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
This book is dedicated to my mom,
an intrepid adventurer,
and my dad, an engineer.
Thank you for all your support over the years!
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
PART I: HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
OF NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND BRIDGES
1. Northern New England’s Early Bridges 5
2. The Advent of Iron and Steel Truss Bridge Designs 10
3. The Anatomy of a Bridge 19
4. Notable Bridge Types of Northern New England 31
5. The Life of a Bridge 47
6. Civil Engineering in Northern New England 55
7. Railroad Bridges 64
8. The Death of a Bridge 72
9. Preservation Efforts 78
PART II: NOTABLE BRIDGE HISTORIES
10. Vermont Bridges 89
11. New Hampshire Bridges 110
12. Maine Bridges 140
13. Interstate Bridges 167
Appendix 1: Bridge Companies Represented in the Region 187
Appendix 2: Vermont Historic Metal Highway Bridges 188
Appendix 3: New Hampshire Historic Metal Highway Bridges 191
Appendix 4: Maine Historic Metal Bridges 194
Bibliography 197
Index 203
vii
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Acknowledgments
With all the recent attention and focus on the condition of our national infrastructure,
coupled with the discussion and debate surrounding President Obama’s Stimulus Plan, it is
perhaps inevitable that a related book like this should be written. However, the true “stimulus”
for this book came in the form of a phone call from Maggie Stier of the New Hampshire Pres-
ervation Alliance. With metal truss bridges added to their list of “Seven to Save” structures
in 2008, she was seeking help to get the plight of these bridges recognized by a wider audience.
With my previous book on New Hampshire’s covered bridges and the lectures I’ve given on
them statewide, I have somewhat of a sympathetic bridge audience and a forum from which
to speak. Indeed, while writing and researching my covered bridge book, I had gathered quite
a bit of information on old iron and steel bridges, but had never thought about doing anything
with it. Maggie’s call, with additional encouragement from state historian Jim Garvin, got
me hooked and eventually led to the book you now hold in your hand. Originally starting
with a focus on my home state of New Hampshire, my efforts soon expanded to our northern
New England neighbors.
As usual, any book of this nature requires the help of a great many people. First and
foremost, I owe a great debt to four individuals, all bridge experts in their respective states;
James Garvin, in addition to his encouragement, was vital to my efforts in gathering records
for New Hampshire bridges, and patiently answered my many requests and queries, both via
email and in person. His help was even more valuable given his prominence and years of
experience as a New Hampshire historian and author. The same is true of Professor Robert
McCullough of the University of Vermont at Burlington, the head of the VAOT’s Historic
Bridge Program. In addition to his helpful emails and patiently answering my many questions
and requests for information, he made my visit to Montpelier to view state bridge records
both easy and fruitful. His book on Vermont bridges is an outstanding work, about the only
such published work of its kind at present in New England. It is thoroughly researched, well
written, and was a book on which I heavily relied. Last, but not least, are Kirk Mohney of the
Maine Historic Preservation Commission and Kurt Jergenson, formerly historic planner in
the Environmental Office of the Maine DOT. Kirk was extremely helpful during my trip to
MHPC headquarters in Augusta and patiently answered my many questions. Kurt was invalu-
able in providing me with updated bridge lists for Maine, copies of the survey reports on all
pre–1950 metal truss bridges in the state, and patiently answered my questions about current
bridges and their current condition and future plans for bridge removals.
No less important to getting this book researched were the following individuals who
went above and beyond; Matthew Thomas, friend, historian extraordinaire, and my able nav-
igator during a trip to visit the Maine bridges; Paul Hallett of the Conway Scenic Railroad,
who kindly allowed me to accompany him on a maintenance run from Conway to Fabyan
Station. Though I surely sounded like an investigative reporter with all the questions I asked
of him, Paul had all the answers I was seeking, and more. Indeed, of all my bridge outings,
this one was surely the most thrilling; Tony Keegan, a trainman who put me in touch with
ix