The Pulp Mill Covered Bridge, also called the Paper Mill Covered Bridge, is a wooden covered bridge that crosses Otter Creek between Middlebury and Weybridge, Vermont on Seymour Street. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.HistoryThe bridge is of Burr arch design. Around 1860, the original Burr arches were removed, and laminated ones added to King post trusses, changing the bridge type to a King post with Burr arch design. This bridge has many distinctions. It is one of only seven double-barreled (two lane) covered bridges in the country, one of only two in the State of Vermont (the Museum Covered Bridge being the other), and the only still carrying regular traffic. It is also the oldest covered bridge in Vermont, and one of the oldest in the country.The exact age of the bridge is in question. A sign on the bridge states it was built between 1808 and 1820. Covered Bridge expert Jan Lewandosky has placed the year of construction at approximately 1850 based on his search of Minutes of the Selectboard of the Town of Middlebury, and his voluminous knowledge of covered bridge construction. In 1850 the Town of Middlebury sent a person to Essex, Vermont to examine a recently completed Burr Arch bridge, unfortunately the design was not copied correctly leading to the design flaws.ImprovementsThe bridge was originally built as a single span but inherent design problems, and heavy use, has driven almost constant improvements. Amongst those improvements was the addition of two piers in the creek effectively dividing the bridge into 3 spans. A non-structural improvement was the addition of a walkway on the outside of the bridge by the Towns of Weybridge and Middlebury. Several other rounds of repairs have been made and chronicled extensively at the Vermont Bridges website.
