Hammond Covered Bridge, Pittsford Vermont
- Categories:
- Vermont
- Covered Bridges
- Town Lattice Truss
One of four covered wood bridges surviving in the town of Pittsford, the Hammond Bridge no longer carries vehicular traffic owing to realignment of the highway and construction of a new bridge slightly to the south. In 1961, the Vermont Division of Historic Sites acquired the bridge with the intent of preserving it as an outstanding example of the once-numerous covered bridges in the Otter Creek valley of western Vermont. Relieved of its traffic and maintained in excellent condition, the Hammond Bridge should serve for many decades to represent the abilities of Asa Nourse (who built it in 1842), Nicholas Powers, and the other master bridge builders of Central Western Vermont.
The covered bridges of Vermont are among its most cherished and symbolic historic resources. About one hundred bridges still stand in the state, the greatest concentration by area of covered bridges in the country.
Bridge Description
The Hammond Covered Bridge consists of a single-span supported by two flanking timber Town lattice trusses. Two laminated stringers have been tie-bolted to the underside of the floor beams parallel to the trusses to reinforce the structure; each stringer comprises several shorter timbers which are tie-bolted together. The western abutment is built of marble slabs without mortar, and has been overlaid with concrete pads to bear the bottom chords of the bridge; the eastern abutment is built partly of stone blocks (the lower section) and partly of marble slabs, and now also has concrete pads for the bottom chords.
The Hammond Bridge measures 139 feet along the bottom of the trusses. The upper ends of the trusses extend outward so that the gable ends overhang the roadway seven feet at each portal. The bridge is 21.5 feet wide, with an 18-foot roadway.
On the exterior, the large planks pegged together diagonally to form the trusses (and side walls) of the bridge are sheathed with flush boards hung vertically. Similar siding protects the ends of the trusses immediately inside the portals. There are five small rectangular windows spaced regularly along the south wall of the bridge, and four similar windows in the north wall. The gable ends are also sheathed with flush vertical boards. The gable roof is now covered with corrugated metal sheeting painted green.
View of bridge looking north (1973)
