Old Blenheim Bridge

Old Blenheim Bridge
HAER photo in 2004
Coordinates42°28′23″N 74°26′28″W / 42.473°N 74.441°W / 42.473; -74.441
CarriedVehicles (1855–1936)
Pedestrians (1936–2011)
CrossedSchoharie Creek
LocaleNorth Blenheim, NY
Characteristics
Designdouble-barreled long truss with center arch covered bridge[1][2]
Total length232 ft 0 in (70.7 m)[3]
Width26 ft 3 in (8.0 m)[3]
Height30 feet (9.1 m)[3]
Longest span210 feet (64 m)[3]
History
DesignerNichols M. Powers[4][3]
Opened1855[1]
CollapsedAugust 28, 2011
Old Blenheim Bridge
Old Blenheim Bridge is located in New York
Old Blenheim Bridge
LocationNorth Blenheim, NY
Coordinates42°28′19″N 74°26′31″W / 42.471847°N 74.441906°W / 42.471847; -74.441906
AreaSchoharie County
Built1854–1855
ArchitectNichols Montgomery Powers
NRHP reference No.66000570
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966[5]
Designated NHLJanuary 29, 1964[6]
Removed from NRHPJuly 21, 2015
Delisted NHLJuly 21, 2015
Location
Map

Old Blenheim Bridge was a wooden covered bridge that spanned Schoharie Creek in North Blenheim, New York, United States. With an open span of 210 feet (64 m), it had the second longest span of any surviving single-span covered bridge in the world. The 1862 Bridgeport Covered Bridge in Nevada County, California, currently undergoing repairs due to 1986 flooding (rebuild started in 2019) is longer overall at 233 feet (71 m) but is argued to have a 208 feet (63 m) clear span.[1] The bridge, opened in 1855, was also one of the oldest of its type in the United States. It was destroyed by flooding resulting from Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. Rebuilding of the bridge commenced in 2017 and was completed in 2018.

  1. ^ a b c Jackson, Donald C. (1988). Great American Bridges and Dams. Wiley. pp. 140. ISBN 0-471-14385-5.
  2. ^ "Blenheim Bridge". Covered Bridges of the Northeast USA.
  3. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference NY-331 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Jeffords, Jim (Winter 2004). "Common Ground, volume 9, number 4" (PDF). Common Ground: Preserving Our Nation's Heritage. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior: 2. ISSN 1087-9889. Retrieved May 30, 2010. In 1837, the people of Pittsford, Vermont, contracted 19-year-old Nichols Powers to build a bridge over Otter Creek.
  5. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  6. ^ "Blenheim Covered Bridge". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 18, 2007.