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Pulp Mill or Paper Mill, Addison County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

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Inventory Number: VT/45-01-04#2
County: Addison County
Township: Middlebury - Weybridge
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: Pulp Mill or Paper Mill
Crosses: Otter Creek
Truss type: Multiple King with Burr
Spans: 1+
Length: 199'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1853-1854
Builder:
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N44 01.477
Longitude: W073 10.645
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 0.7 miles northwest of jct VT125 on VT23 (Weybridge St.), then 0.4 miles right on Pulp Mill Bridge Rd. and 190 feet right still on Pulp Mill Bridge Rd.

Pulp Mill or Paper Mill Bridge, Middlebury-Weybridge, Addison County, VT Built c1853-1854
Bill Caswell Photo (1987)

Pulp Mill or Paper Mill Bridge, Middlebury-Weybridge, Addison County, VT Built c1853-1854
Richard E. Roy Collection

Pulp Mill or Paper Mill Bridge, Middlebury-Weybridge, Addison County, VT Built 1853-1854
Bob Sheldon Photo, October 2, 2010

Pulp Mill or Paper Mill Bridge, Middlebury-Weybridge, Addison County, VT Built 1853-1854
Bill Caswell Photo, September 26, 2009

Pulp Mill or Paper Mill Bridge, Middlebury-Weybridge, Addison County, VT Built c1853-1854
Bill Caswell Collection

Comments:
Double-barrel. Per the Middlebury Register, December 29, 1852, "Notice. Proposals will be received by the undersigned for building a covered bridge over the Olter Creek, at Paper Mill Village. Said bridge is to be 176 feet between the abutments. Proposals are solicited for the different slyles, with prices of each, and should be sent in by the 15th of January. Middlebury, Dec. 28, 1852. CALVIN HILL for Selectmen of Middlebury, SAMUEL O. WRIGHT, for Selectmen of Weybridge." The bridge was named for a wood pulp mill that operated nearby. Around 1860, the timber arches were removed and laminated arches with iron rod hangers substituted, changing it from a Burr truss to a multiple Kingpost with arch bridge. During the 1979-80 renovation, the arches were modified and two sets of timber cribs on masonry piers were added under roadway providing additional support at equal thirds of the bridge. In 1990, through a grant provided to the Town of Weybridge, an uncovered pedestrian walkway was added to the span. In 2002 the bridge was again repaired at a cost of $103,000.00. Work included repairing the center truss and replacing part of a lower chord. The bridge was restored during 2012.

Sources:
Middlebury Register, December 29, 1852.
Conwill, Joseph D.. Images of America - Vermont Covered Bridges, 2004, page 36
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 138

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