Damage from box truck closes covered bridge in Sandwich, one of few left in state

SANDWICH — One of the few remaining covered bridges in the state was damaged by a vehicle on Monday morning, when a box truck well in excess of the height restriction attempted to pass through it.

The driver, who stopped afterward and was reportedly cooperative with police, damaged several timbers on the 1869-built bridge. After remaining open for about 24 hours after the incident, the bridge is now closed to vehicle traffic until repairs can be made.

“A commercial vehicle tried going through the bridge and it was overheight. They obviously hit the top of the bridge, continued going for a little bit, then backed out,” said Police Chief Karl Koch.

Fire Chief Ted Call said his department was called to the scene at 11:37 a.m. on June 2. He said there were no injuries nor hazards resulting from the incident. He noted there are signs hanging from each entrance to the bridge alerting drivers to the 9 foot, 3 inches of clearance in the bridge — and the signs hang at that height.

“It went through the height sign and continued through the bridge, damaging several parts of the wooden structure,” Call said, adding the box of the truck was about 13 feet tall.

Koch said his officer on scene called State Police to assist, as the incident involved a commercial vehicle. The driver was cited for being overheight, for exceeding the six-ton weight limit for the bridge, and for damaging a covered bridge, the last of which was enabled by a statute signed into law last year.

The Durgin Bridge spans the Swift River and offers the only means to cross it within a few miles in each direction. The bridge, according to a historical plaque, is the fourth such structure to be built there, after the first three were destroyed by freshets — a kind of flood.

The current bridge was constructed in 1869 by Jacob Berry of North Conway, and is named for James Holmes Durgin, a grist mill operator and stagecoach driver. According to the plaque, the bridge “was a link in the underground slave railroad, Sandwich to Conway.”

The bridge has a unique value to the town for both its practical as well as historic significance, which is why the town has a stand-alone insurance policy to cover it, said Town Administrator Courtney Delaney. “We cherish it,” she said.

A bridge engineer recommended closing the bridge after inspecting the damage on Tuesday. Delaney said the town will look to the driver’s insurance to fix the damage, but there might be other necessary work unrelated to the collision.

“Durgin Bridge has been on our radar for some future work,” Delaney said, and the town may decide to perform that work while the damage from Monday’s incident is being addressed.

Until that work is completed, the bridge will remain closed, requiring a several-miles detour for people who need to cross the river.

The timing of that work will depend on its scope, the availability of contractors and, if necessary, the municipal appropriations process. “We could be limited by our budget, at least this fiscal year,” Delaney said.

Monday’s collision was the most significant in recent history, but it is hardly the first time an oversized vehicle has used the bridge.

“We have cited people before for that,” Koch said. A few times in recent memory, the clearance signs had to be replaced after taking damage from tall vehicles. Two years ago, he said, the bridge took damage from a collision, and the responsible party was never identified.

It’s hard to say how often commercial vehicles are crossing the bridge, Koch said, as it’s in a quiet part of town that isn’t frequently patrolled by police. Monday’s activity, though, suggested commercial drivers might be accustomed to pushing the envelope at Durgin Bridge.

“While my officer was there [on Monday], another commercial vehicle came,” Koch said. Even with the damage, the other box truck and a police officer in sight, “another commercial vehicle pulled up and wanted to cross the bridge. My officer told him he can’t,” Koch said. “It could be happening more than we know of.”