The Pineground Bridge, also known as the Depot Road Bridge or the Thunder Bridge, is a through-type

lenticular truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

bridge that formerly carried Depot Road over the

Suncook River The Suncook River is a river located in central New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Merrimack River, which flows to the Gulf of Maine. Course The Suncook River begins at the outlet of Crystal Lake in the town of Gilmanto ...

Chichester, New Hampshire Chichester is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,665 at the 2020 census. History Chichester was granted in 1727 to Nathaniel Gookin and others,Article i''Statistics and Gazetteer of New-Hampshire'' ...

. The bridge was built in 1887 by the

Berlin Iron Bridge Co. The Berlin Iron Bridge Company was a Berlin, Connecticut company that built iron bridges and buildings that were supported by iron. It is credited as the architect of numerous bridges and buildings now listed on the U.S. National Register of His ...

, and is the only one of its type (and only one of for lenticular truss bridges of any type, as of 2004) in the state. It is long and wide, and rises above the river. It is mounted on abutments made of unmortared ashlar granite. The decking and rails are made of wood. The bridge has not undergone major alterations since its construction. Some of its stringers were replaced during the 1981-2 restoration, wooden parts were also replaced, and a number of decorative parts have been lost over the years. The bridge was built on the site of earlier bridges that gave access to the "pine ground", an area with a large number of pine trees, and the eventual site of a saw mill. When the railroad arrived in the area in the late 1860s, Depot Road was run across the bridge to connect the town to the station. The previous bridge, in bad condition even before the arrival of the railroad, was probably subjected to heavier traffic afterward, and the town decided to replace it in 1887. The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in 1978 and restored for pedestrian, bicycle, and snowmobile use in 1981-2. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

References

{{NRHP in Merrimack County, New Hampshire Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Bridges completed in 1887 Bridges in Merrimack County, New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Merrimack County, New Hampshire Lenticular truss bridges in the United States Metal bridges in the United States

See also

References