Willard Covered Bridge

DESCRIPTION:

The Willard Covered Bridge consists of a single span supported by two flanking timber Town lattice trusses. Two laminated stringers have been added to the underside of the floor parallel to the trusses for reinforcement. Each stringer consists of a series of short timbers tie-bolted together. Steel knee braces have been added to the upper lateral bracing inside the bridge. The abutments have been faced with concrete over the original stone slabs.

The bridge is 123 feet long at the bottom of the trusses. The gable ends incline upward from the floor to overhang that length by 3.5 feet at each end of the bridge. The wood floor begins 10 feet inside each portal. The bridge is 21 feet wide, with a 16.5-foot roadway.

On the exterior, the large planks pegged together diagonally to form the trusses (and side walls) of the bridge are sheathed with boards-and-battens hung vertically. Similar siding protects the ends of the trusses immediately inside the portals. There are two rectangular windows in each side wall of the bridge. The gable ends are flat above the portals and are also sheathed with vertical boards-and-battens. The roof of the bridge is covered with standing seam metal sheeting

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

One of two remaining covered bridges in the town of Hartland, the Willard Bridge is one of the most carefully maintained covered bridges in Vermont. Both its builder and exact date are unknown. In addition to a program of careful maintenance, the location of the structure on a lightly traveled road and its protection from washouts by a flood control dam will assure the survival of the bridge.

Vermont's covered bridges are among the state's 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.(1) Many of these bridges are integral parts of unique architectural environments whose physical setting and cultural context have been little altered until recently. However, extensive highway construction programs are now drastically changing the historic environment of the state. The Vermont Division of Historic Sites wishes to extend the recognition and protection of the National Register to the majority of the surviving covered bridges, including the Willard bridge.

NOTES:
(1) R. S. Allen, Covered Bridges of the Northeast, The Stephen Greene Press, Brattleboro, Vt., 1957, p. 50.

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

Allen, Richard Sanders, Rare Old Covered Bridges of Windsor County, The Stephen Greene Press, Brattleboro, Vt., 1957

R. S. Allen, Covered Bridges of the Northeast, The Stephen Greene Press, Brattleboro, Vt., 1957.

FORM PREPARED BY: Hugh H. Henry, Researcher, Vermont Division of Historic Sites, Pavilion Building, Montpelier, VT. Tel: not given. Date: May 11, 1973.

DATE ENTERED: August 28, 1973.
(Source 127)