A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical suspenders, have a long history in many mountainous parts of the world.
Interstate 91 (I-91) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of the region. The Interstate generally follows the course of the Connecticut River. Its southern terminus is in New Haven, Connecticut, at I-95. The northern terminus is in the village of Derby Line, Vermont, at the Canadian border. Past the Derby Line–Rock Island Border Crossing, the road continues as Quebec Autoroute 55. I-91 is the longest of three Interstate highways whose entire route is located within the New England states and is also the only primary (two-digit) Interstate Highway in New England to intersect all five of the other highways that run through the region. The largest cities along its route are New Haven, Connecticut; Hartford, Connecticut; Springfield, Massachusetts; Northampton, Massachusetts; Greenfield, Massachusetts; Brattleboro, Vermont; White River Junction, Vermont; and St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in order from south to north.
Chesterfield is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,552 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Spofford and West Chesterfield. Chesterfield is home to Spofford Lake, Chesterfield Gorge Natural Area, and parts of Pisgah State Park and Wantastiquet Mountain State Forest.
Hinsdale is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,948 at the 2020 census. Hinsdale is home to part of Pisgah State Park in the northeast, and part of Wantastiquet Mountain State Forest in the northwest.
Brattleboro, originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about 10 miles (16 km) north of the Massachusetts state line, at the confluence of Vermont's West River and the Connecticut. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 12,184.
The High Bridge is the oldest bridge in New York City, having originally opened as part of the Croton Aqueduct in 1848 and reopened as a pedestrian walkway in 2015 after being closed for over 45 years. A steel arch bridge with a height of 140 ft (43 m) over the Harlem River, it connects the New York City boroughs of the Bronx and Manhattan. The eastern end is located in the Highbridge section of the Bronx near the western end of West 170th Street, and the western end is located in Highbridge Park in Manhattan, roughly parallel to the end of West 174th Street.
New Hampshire Route 119 is a state highway in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The highway begins in Hinsdale at the Connecticut River, across which the highway continues into Brattleboro, Vermont, as Vermont Route 119 for 0.080 miles (0.129 km) to its terminus at U.S. Route 5 and VT 142. NH 119 heads east 39.908 miles (64.226 km) to the Massachusetts state line in New Ipswich, where the highway continues as Massachusetts Route 119. The state highway is the main east–west highway of southern Cheshire County, where it connects the towns of Hinsdale, Winchester, Richmond, Fitzwilliam, and Rindge.
The Ledyard Bridge crosses the Connecticut River to connect Hanover, New Hampshire to Norwich, Vermont. It is the third bridge at this crossing to bear the name of the adventurer John Ledyard.
New Hampshire Route 9 is a 109.910-mile-long (176.883 km) state highway located in southern New Hampshire. It runs across the state from west to east and is a multi-state route with Vermont and Maine, part of 1920s-era New England Interstate Route 9.
Vermont Route 9 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Vermont. The highway runs 46.957 miles (75.570 km) from the New York state line in Bennington, where it continues west as New York State Route 7, to the New Hampshire state line at the Connecticut River in Brattleboro, where the highway continues as New Hampshire Route 9. VT 9 is the primary east–west highway of Bennington and Windham counties in southern Vermont. The highway connects Southern Vermont's primary towns of Bennington and Brattleboro via its crossing of the Green Mountains. VT 9 also connects those towns with Troy, New York, and Keene, New Hampshire, via the connecting highways in those states. The highway also intersects three major north–south routes: U.S. Route 7 in Bennington and Interstate 91 (I-91) and US 5 in Brattleboro.
The French King Bridge is the three-span "cantilever arch" bridge that crosses the Connecticut River on the border between the towns of Erving and Gill, Massachusetts, United States. The bridge, part of Massachusetts Route 2, carries automobile, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic and is owned and managed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).
The Cornish–Windsor Covered Bridge is a 156-year-old, two-span, timber Town lattice-truss, interstate, covered bridge that crosses the Connecticut River between Cornish, New Hampshire, and Windsor, Vermont. Until 2008, when the Smolen–Gulf Bridge opened in Ohio, it had been the longest covered bridge in the United States.
The Schell Memorial Bridge is a steel cantilever Pennsylvania (Petit) truss bridge spanning the Connecticut River in the town of Northfield, Massachusetts. Designed by Edward S. Shaw, the bridge abutments and piers were built by the firm of Ellis & Buswell of Woburn, Massachusetts, and the superstructure was built by the New England Structural Company of East Everett, Massachusetts. The bridge was commissioned by Francis R. Schell, who gave $42,000 for design and construction. Construction began in 1901 and was completed in 1903. In 1985, due to advanced deterioration of the steel truss members, the bridge was barricaded and abandoned.
The Bellows Falls Arch Bridge was a three-hinged steel through arch bridge over the Connecticut River between Bellows Falls, Vermont and North Walpole, New Hampshire. It was structurally significant as the longest arch bridge in the United States when it was completed in 1905.
The Piermont Bridge carries New Hampshire Route 25 over the Connecticut River between Piermont, New Hampshire and Bradford, Vermont. It is a Pennsylvania steel through truss bridge, built by the Boston Bridge Works in 1928. The bridge consists of a single span with a clear span of 352' and an overall length of 354'10". The roadbed is 20'7" wide, with a vertical clearance of 14'7". The bridge is approximately 25' above the river. The western (Vermont) abutment is made of split granite quarried from nearby Fairlee Mountain, while the eastern abutment is an early concrete construction built in 1908 by John Storrs for an earlier bridge. The bridge underwent a major renovation in 1993 which included the addition of a sidewalk and replacement of much of the bridge decking.
The Samuel Morey Memorial Bridge is a historic bridge carrying New Hampshire Route 25A across the Connecticut River between Orford, New Hampshire and Fairlee, Vermont. The steel through-arch bridge was built in 1937–38 to replace an older wooden bridge which had been damaged by flooding in 1936. It spans 432 feet (132 m), stands about 35 feet (11 m) above the river, and its arches rise 85 feet (26 m) above the roadway. It rests on poured concrete abutments that have a light Art Deco or Moderne styling. Wing walls recede from the abutments into the banks in three stepped sections. Below the bridge in the river is visible some riprap, stone remnants of the old bridge's abutments and central pier. The bridge is of a "tied arch" design, in which the two arches are joined together by ties to distribute the active load. This is in contrast to the Justice Harlan Fiske Stone Bridge joining Brattleboro, Vermont and Chesterfield, New Hampshire, which was built about the same time, and distributes the active load to its abutments. The bridge components were manufactured by the American Bridge Company; construction was by Hagen-Thibodeau Construction Company at a contracted cost of just over $209,000.
The Ranger Bridge between Wells River, Vermont and Woodsville, New Hampshire, is a three-hinged steel arch truss bridge over the Connecticut River. It was built in 1923 to replace a 1917 bridge. This is the oldest steel arch bridge over the Connecticut River.
The Wells River Bridge between Wells River, Vermont and Woodsville, New Hampshire, is a steel double-decked Baltimore truss bridge over the Connecticut River. It was built in 1903 to carry rail and road traffic.
The Charles N. Vilas Bridge is a 635-foot (194 m) two-span concrete deck arch bridge over the Connecticut River between Bellows Falls, Vermont and North Walpole, New Hampshire. It was built in 1930 and has been closed since March 19, 2009.
The Lyme–East Thetford Bridge is a historic bridge over the Connecticut River between Lyme, New Hampshire, and East Thetford, Vermont. From the New Hampshire side it carries East Thetford Road, which becomes Vermont Route 113 as it enters Vermont. A Parker truss bridge completed in 1937, it is 471 feet (144 m) long. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.
1937 bridge's award plaque
Both bridges from the road of the 1937 bridge, looking up
Suspender cable attach point on the 2003 bridge
Plaque re-dedicating the old bridge
