Skip to main content

Florenceville Bridge - Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick

Image
By

 


The Florenceville Bridge is a combination of a four steel truss spans and a Howe truss designed covered bridge that crosses the Saint John River in Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick, which is also known as the French Fry Capital of the World due to its association with the McCain Foods company. The covered bridge portion of the bridge is 154 feet (roughly 47 meters) long and links the eastern and western shores of Florenceville. But when you account for the four steel truss spans, the length of the bridge is closer to 1000 feet.

The original bridge was built by Albert Brewer, the same builder who constructed the Hartland Covered Bridge just downstream along the Saint John River. Prior to the construction of the original bridge in 1885, movement of people and goods between the east and west sides of Florenceville were dependent on ferry travel. The first post office and the commercial section of the village were situated on the west side of the river, but over time, the town's central business district gradually migrated to the east side of the Saint John River. The construction of the bridge signified the need to cross the river frequently and that the traffic demand became greater than the ferry was able to accommodate Construction on the original bridge started in 1882, and even before the bridge could be opened, three of the five spans were destroyed by an ice freshet. The present Florenceville Bridge was built in 1911 and is located on the site of the original 1885 bridge, which was destroyed by fire.

The bridge has also been designated for its architectural and historical value as one of New Brunswick's covered bridges. While the bridge is now only partially covered, the bridge was once covered on both ends. The western portions of the covered spans of the bridge were destroyed in a fire in 1932 and those spans were replaced with steel trusses. Fortunately the easternmost span of the bridge was able to remain as a covered span. I feel this adds to the uniqueness of the Florenceville Bridge. Today, you can see the bridge by taking a stroll down the main street in Florenceville-Bristol. When I visited, the bridge was closed to traffic, but presumably you can normally drive across this bridge as well.







 
How to Get There:



Sources and Links:
Canada's Historic Bridges - Florenceville Bridge
Covered Spans of Yesteryear - Florenceville, Carleton County
Terry E. Miller, Ronald G. Knapp - America's Covered Bridges: Practical Crossings, Nostalgic Icons
Labels:
Location: Florenceville Covered Bridge, Old Florenceville Bridge Rd, Florenceville-Bristol, NB, Canada

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The case to move Interstate 73 in Southern Ohio onto US 33

By
Every decade or so, Ohio pushes to revisit the proposed Interstate 73 that would connect Michigan to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  It's been happening since Congress legislated the route in 1991.  Within Ohio, Interstate 73 generally follows the US 23 corridor from Portsmouth through Columbus to Toledo, and into Michigan. Since High Priority Corridor Five was created , Ohio has really done nothing to move forward with Interstate 73.  Sure, there have been feasibility studies here and there.  But actual dollars and construction just haven't occurred. The US 33 Nelsonville Bypass appears to have been built to Interstate standards. However, Ohio has been slowly upgrading US 33 to a full freeway through Southeastern Ohio.  Bypasses of Lancaster and Nelsonville opened in 2004 and 2013, respectively.  Other sections of two-lane road are being twinned, some to freeway or, at a minimum, to expressway standards.  Currently, a $274 million widening project in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Local Sign Find - The last remnant of Business Interstate 95 between Kenly and Rocky Mount , NC

By
As you head north on Interstate 95 at Exit 107 for Kenly and US 301, you'll notice something odd about the overhead sign for the exit.  Peeling off the sign for all that can see is the word 'NORTH' off-center from the US 301.  This old sign (probably close to original from when this section of I-95 opened - more on that in a little bit) gives a hint to a short-lived Business Interstate Route that ran from here to Rocky Mount. The last hint of the Kenly-Wilson-Rocky Mount Business I-95 (Shaun White - August 2020) Interstate 95 in North Carolina has a unique history.  But one of the overlooked and forgotten pieces of Interstate 95 in North Carolina is the 38 mile section between Kenly and Rocky Mount.  When opened to traffic in late 1978, it was the next to last piece of Interstate 95 in North Carolina to open replacing a four lane US 301 from Battleboro through Rocky Mount and Wilson to eventually tying back into the Interstate in Kenly. Though it was not delayed in l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nostalgia fast food with style - Returning to Rax

By
Nostalgia. It sells. It evokes, and more accurately, warps memories of days gone by.  Things were better, simpler, and we eat it up. Nostalgia can make you drive three hours and over a hundred miles out of your way just to reconnect with a dying fast-food restaurant you last enjoyed in the early to mid-90s.  That person was me - that restaurant was Rax. I could go on about Rax's history, but in short, Rax was briefly a very popular roast beef fast-food chain.  Growing up in the 80s and early 90s in Western PA, Rax was the good fast-food spot.  The milkshakes.  (Personally, the chocolate chip milkshake was heaven.)  Uncle Alligator Kids Meal with the chocolate chip cookie. Take that McDonald's Happy Meal!  The fancy salad and hot foods bar.  Going to Rax was special.  Like so many similar restaurants, various investments, management decisions, etc., led Rax to almost disappear overnight.  By the time I graduated college in late 1999, abou...
Post a Comment
Read more