Dingleton Hill Covered Bridge Explained

Dingleton Hill Covered Bridge
Location:Root Hill Road over Mill Brook, Cornish Mills, New Hampshire
Coordinates:43.4642°N -72.3692°W
Builder:Tasker, James
Architecture:Kingpost Truss
Added:November 8, 1978
Refnum:78000221

The Dingleton Hill Covered Bridge, also known as the Cornish Mills Bridge, is a historic wooden covered bridge, carrying Root Hill Road over Mill Brook in Cornish Mills, New Hampshire. Built in 1882, it is one of the state's few surviving 19th-century covered bridges. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It carries one lane of traffic, with a posted weight limit.

Description and history

The Dingleton Hill Covered Bridge is located about 1miles east of New Hampshire Route 12, on Root Mill Road just south of Town House Road. The bridge is a single span kingspost truss structure running 79feet, resting on an original stone abutment and a 1954 concrete abutment. Its original wood-shingle roof has been replaced by corrugated metal. Only the lower half of the trusses are sheathed with vertical planking; the upper half is exposed. The upper portion of the portals are finished in vertical board siding. Its interior is 14.5feet wide, carrying one lane of traffic.

The bridge was built in 1882 by James Tasker, a local builder, at a cost to the town of $812.[1] It underwent a major restoration in 1983 by Milton Graton, after which there was a rededication ceremony attended by one of Tasker's descendants.[2] The bridge was damaged in 2016 when a school bus (overweight for the posted limit, and overheight for its portals) crossed the bridge; the damage was repaired and the bridge reopened several months later.[3]

See also

Other covered bridges in Cornish

Covered bridges in nearby West Windsor, Vermont

Lists of bridges

National Register listings of area bridges

Notes and References

  1. Web site: [{{NRHP url|id=78000221}} NRHP nomination for Dingleton Hill Covered Bridge]. National Park Service. 2014-06-27.
  2. Web site: Dingleton Hill Covered Bridge. State of New Hampshire. 2019-11-02.
  3. Web site: Historic Covered Bridge Back in Operation After Bus Accident. June 2016 . New Hampshire Public Radio. 2019-11-02.