Skip to main content

Prud'homme Covered Bridge (Pont Prud'homme) - Brébeuf, Quebec

 


South of Mont-Tremblant, Quebec between QC Routes 323 and 327 in the town of Brébeuf in the Laurentides region of Quebec is the Prud'homme Covered Bridge (or Pont Prud'homme, in French), and the bridge crosses the Devils River (or Rivière du Diable, in French). Built by Bernardin Durocher in 1918 using a Town truss design that is common for covered bridges in Quebec, the Prud'homme Covered Bridge is 145 feet long and was built at a cost of $6,000. As you can see, there are openings in the lattice work of the paneling, which was designed to help to bring light inside the bridge. These openings also helped avoid horses becoming fearful of their surroundings as they across down the bridge.

The Prud'homme Covered Bridge was first called the Bridge of the Armistice as construction was completed and the bridge opened on November 11, 1918, the same day that World War I ended. The bridge was later named the David Bridge until 1957. At that time, it was renamed in honor of the local Prud'homme family during a mandate called by Maurice Duplessis of the Union Nationale, a Quebec political party.

For a number of years, Alphonse Prud'homme voluntarily spread snow on the covered bridge to allow the passage of sleds and snowmobiles as they passed across the bridge, as a testament to Quebec's wintertime recreational traditions. At one time, the Prud'homme Covered Bridge was painted green and white, but when the bridge was repaired in 1997, it was repainted red as part of the repair costs of $40,000. Further restoration work to the covered bridge is planned in two phases in 2022 and 2023, following a closure to the bridge following a bridge inspection by the MTQ (Ministry of Transportation Quebec) in April 2019. The first phase of bridge reconstruction is planned for  the winter of 2022 with the stabilization of the bridge. The second phase is planned for 2023 and will be devoted to restoration work along the covered bridge. The MTQ has made restoration of the covered bridge a priority, as it will reestablish the link between the two sides of the Devils River while preserving the elements that distinguish this covered bridge.

I visited the bridge in the summer of 2019, not knowing ahead of time that the covered bridge was closed to traffic. Following signs from the main road, I was able to find the bridge and find a place to park. It's easy to view the bridge from different angles, and area around the covered bridge is a popular launching point for canoes and kayaks. With the bridge being worked on for future reopening, I would imagine there being interpretive signs installed to promote the history and heritage of this bridge and the surrounding agricultural countryside.


A view of the covered bridge portal and the Town lattice construction inside of the bridge.

The covered bridge was actually closed to traffic when I visited.

The hills of the Laurentian Mountains are in the distance. 

Rivière du Diable (the Devils River).


How to Get There:



Sources and Links:
Laurentian Heritage WebMagazine - Covered Bridges of the Laurentians, Part 2
Route des Belles-Histoires - Pont Prud'homme
Balado Discovery - Covered Bridge
L'info du Nord - Le pont Prud’homme à Brébeuf sera restauré
Les ponts couverts au Québec - Pont Prud'homme

Comments

The bridge doesn’t look like it’s doing well. It’s closed to everyone and has some emergency supports holding up parts of the truss.

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon

Within the Truckee River Canyon in the Sierra Nevada range numerous abandoned portions of US Route 40 can be found alongside modern Interstate 80.   This segment of highway was opened during 1926 as a bypass of the Dog Valley Grade which carried the early North Lincoln Highway and Victory Highway. The corridor of the Truckee River Canyon State Highway would be assigned as US Route 40 when the US Route System was commissioned during November 1926. During 1958 the segment of Interstate 80 between Boca, California and the Nevada state line was complete. When Interstate 80 opened east of Boca numerous obsolete portions of US Route 40 were abandoned. Some of these abandoned segments have been incorporated into the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail.  Part 1; the history of US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon The Truckee River Canyon for centuries has been an established corridor of travel known to native tribes crossing the Sierra Nevada range.  The first documented wagon crossi...

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced...

The William Flinn (not Flynn) Highway - Pittsburgh's Misspelled Street

For decades if you traveled along PA Route 8 in Pittsburgh's North Hills suburbs, you would have noticed signs that read "William Flynn Highway" at every intersection.  Even today, many businesses and residences have their addresses listed as XXXX William Flynn Highway.  However, it's not William Flynn Highway, it is William FLINN Highway - and the gentleman who it is named for has a long and storied past in Pittsburgh's infrastructure history. William Flinn was born in England in 1851; however later that year, his family emigrated to the United States and would settle in Pittsburgh.  A 10-year-old school dropout, Flinn grew interested in politics and would join the Allegheny County Republican Party in 1877 as a ward commissioner and a seat on the Board of Fire Commissioners.  Flinn would serve in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives and Senate from 1877 to 1902. (1) Flinn along with James J. Booth would found the Booth and Flinn construction firm ...