A Short History of the Union Village Covered Bridge

by Joseph C. Nelson¹

The Union Village Bridge is in the center of the village and has spanned the river here since 1867. With a truss length of 113 feet, it is the longest multiple-kingpost span in the state--the average truss length of multiple-kingpost bridges in Vermont is fifty-four feet. An attempt was made to stiffen the structure with what has been called a kingpost arch. The Agency of Transportation bridge inspectors found that the long inverted " V" bracing has been lending little structural support "due to lack of substantial connection to the trusses."

The timber deck was replaced and the unmortared stone abutments capped in the 1970s, and the east abutment was faced with concrete. Except for the addition of distribution beams tie-bolted under the deck beams and the "kingpost" arches, the span remains as it was originally designed.

Unfortunately, the bridge is in trouble. The camber has reversed, so that, instead of arching upward at mid-span, the old bridge is sagging. The Agency of Transportation has recommended that the Union Village Bridge be closed to traffic and bypassed or rehabilitated with a self-supporting roadway.

Find Union Village by returning to Route 113 from Thetford Center and driving east to Thetford Hill and Academy Road. Go south 2.5 miles to the bridge. Union Village Bridge stands in the Ompompanoosuc River valley in the shadow of the Union Village Flood Control dam.

The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites as Union Village Covered Bridge 9/17/1974.

The Union Village Bridge, the state's longest multiple- kingpost span, has been defying gravity for more than 130 years.