Wentworth Village Common Covered Bridge

Wentworth, New Hampshire

Under a compressed time frame and uncertain budget, D&K provided civil-structural and permitting services for a project that replaced a severely deteriorated circa 1909 truss bridge with a covered bridge for pedestrian and other recreational traffic. The closure of the truss bridge redirected school children accessing the bus stop and others on foot onto the unprotected shoulder of NH Route 25.

Shortly after the closure, the client found a freely available covered bridge in the middle of an active demolition site in Bedford, NH and directly contacted D&K—with no clear schedule or available budget—to evaluate the structure for reuse and design shoring for transportation to the Wentworth site in a matter of a few weeks. Initial challenges included: the covered bridge had to be removed with no cost or inconvenience to the demolition contractor/owner; at 106 feet, the covered bridge was 10 feet longer than the bridge it would be replacing; due to the bridge’s design, non-destructive disassembly was not feasible; and no cranes of sufficient capacity to lift the covered bridge were available on short notice. D&K evaluated techniques to strip the bridge down to the appropriate pick weight for the available cranes; devised and implemented a design-build contract to utilize NHDOT municipal bridge aid funding to redesign the existing abutments; and designed cost-effective rehabilitation and modifications to allow for new loading conditions, exposure to the elements, and an increased hydraulic opening.

In addition to replacing a historically accurate covered bridge and providing a protected river crossing, (the truss bridge originally replaced the only covered bridge in the Town’s history) the project reused a 106’ all-timber structure that would have otherwise been landfilled. The bridge is designed for a 50-year service life. Located in the center of the Town, the bridge serves as a focal point for a municipal park and will serve additional planned outdoor recreation traffic including snowmobiles, human-powered winter recreation. The project received a 2018 Engineering Excellence Award by the American Council of Engineering Companies, New Hampshire Chapter.