There are many covered bridges all over the world as you will see later below, but the title of the WORLD'S LONGEST COVERED BRIDGE goes to
Hartland Covered Bridge, in New Brunswick, Canada.
Pic source by Flickr user *Muhammad* |
Pic source by Flickr user catlennox |
The bridge was originally constructed in 1901 by the Hartland Bridge Company which was formed by citizens on both sides of the St. John River. It was funded by tolls until it was purchased by the provincial government in 1906. The bridge was not originally built covered. The 1907 fire burnt some of the structure and nearly destroyed the toll house.
The side walkway, which is a small bridge in itself, was added to this 1,282 foot bridge in 1945 and on June 23, 1980, the Hartland Covered Bridge was declared a National Historic Site and on September 15, 1999 it was declared a Provincial Historic Site.
The original completion date was to be May 14, 1901, but as the day approached, an emergency forced the first person to cross the bridge twelve hours early. At about 9:00pm on Monday the 13th of May, Dr. Estey responded to an urgent call to attend to a patient on the west side of the river. Dr. Estey approached the bridge and revealed to the workers, his circumstances. Workers then placed planks so he could drive across the bridge.
Pic source by Flickr user cmh2315fl |
Repairs were done to the bridge in 1982-83 when a car struck a steel strain rod, causing the bridge to drop and break the main beam on the western most span.
The car received an estimated $400.00 damage, while the bill for repairing the bridge was $140,000.00. The bridge finally reopened for traffic, on February 10, 1983.
Pic source by Flickr user cmh2315fl |
Hartland Bridge, from the Somerville side looking back toward Hartland. Pic source by wikimedia |
- Since the bridge was covered, in the early years snow had to be hauled and placed on the floor so the sleds could easily travel on it in the winter?
- The Olympic torch was carried through the bridge as part of celebrations of the 1988 Winter Olympics held in Calgary?
- When the bridge was mostly used by horse and wagon, young men trained their horses to stop about half way across the bridge. The horse would wait until the couple shared a couple of kisses and then it would continue to the other side of the bridge?
- And that the first wedding on the bridge was celebrated in September 1993 between Charmaine Laffoley and David Hunt from Toronto?
- It is thought by some locals to be good luck to hold one's breath the entire way across while driving?
- On September 1, 1995, Canada Post Corporation launched a postage stamp honouring the bridge?
- On July 4, 2012, in honour of its 111th anniversary, it was celebrated with a Google Doodle on Google's Canadian homepage?
MORE COVERED BRIDGES
Pavia, ITALY - Covered bridge on Ticino river Pic source by wikipedia |
Irgandı Köprüsü, in Osmangazi, TURKEY 1367 Pic source by Flickr user salihozkan |
Holzbrücke, over the river Rhine from Bad Säckingen, GERMANY, to Stein, SWITZERLAND first built before 1272, destroyed and re-built many times. Pic source by wikipedia |
The oldest surviving covered railroad bridge existing in the UNITED STATES The Contoocook Covered Railroad Bridge - Hopkinton, New Hampshire Pic source by wikimedia |
Chengyang Wind-Rain Bridge in Sanjiang county,Liuzhou city,Guangxi, CHINA Pic source by Flickr user oliverlaumann |
Kapellbrücke, in Lucerne, SWITZERLAND – 204-metre (669 ft) long, originally built 1333; destroyed by fire 1993 and rebuilt |
"鞘橋"(Saya Bridge) in Kotohira, JAPAN Pic source by Flickr user fujiwash |
Xijin Bridge in Zhejiang, CHINA |
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