Ledyard Bridge | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 43°42′13″N72°17′59″W / 43.70361°N 72.29972°W /43.70361; -72.29972 |
| Carries | Vermont Route 10A, New Hampshire Route 10A, Appalachian Trail |
| Crosses | Connecticut River |
| Locale | Hanover, New Hampshire andNorwich, Vermont |
| Maintained by | New Hampshire Department of Transportation |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Beam bridge, originally acovered bridge |
| History | |
| Construction start | 1998 |
| Opened | 1859, 2000 |
| Closed | 1935[1] |
| Location | |
![]() Interactive map of Ledyard Bridge | |
TheLedyard Bridge crosses theConnecticut River to connectHanover, New Hampshire toNorwich, Vermont. It is the third bridge at this crossing to bear the name of the adventurerJohn Ledyard.
The first "Ledyard Free Bridge" was a covered bridge built in 1859 that was the first bridge across the Connecticut not to charge a toll. (It was the latest of several bridges at this site that went back to the late 18th century.) The bridge was named after Ledyard in 1859 because its eastern abutment was near the site of a tree that Ledyard felled during 1773 in order to make the dugout canoe in which he leftDartmouth College to continue his world travels.[2][citation needed]
The bridge now standing was built between 1998 and 2000 by theNew Hampshire Department of Transportation.[3] At each end it displays a pair of "bridge balls," the controversial Classical ornaments cast in concrete that refer to the gateway to Tuck Drive nearby on the Hanover shore. They are the product of aConcord architect brought in byNHDOT to infuse some extra aesthetic appeal into the design of the bridge.[citation needed]
The Ledyard Bridge carries the designation ofNew Hampshire Route 10A andVermont Route 10A, a short state highway linkingU.S. Route 5 andInterstate 91 on the Vermont side withNew Hampshire Route 10 on the New Hampshire side. TheAppalachian Trail uses the pedestrian walkway to cross the river.
Although the border betweenNew Hampshire and Vermont was set at theVermont shore early in the states' histories, the bridge's monument to that border rests near the middle of the crossing; the reasoning is that the border was fixed before the Wilder Dam pushed the Vermont shore westward during the 1950s.[citation needed]