Nevada County, California Bridges: Bridgeport Covered Bridge across the South Yuba River (3)

December 2012 (39.2927 Degrees, -121.1949 Degrees) Bridgeport Covered Bridge

The Bridgeport Bridge was owned by the Virginia Turnpike Company, which provided a toll road beween the Comstock Lode and Nevada County goldmines. The company owned 14 miles of road that carried up to 100 wagons a day before it was closed in 1901. In 1863 the company collected $20,915.45 in tolls. The cost to use the road in 1862 included:

• 8 horse, mule, or ox team (each way) - $6.00
• 6 horse, mule, or ox team (each way) - $5.50
• 4 horse, mule, or ox team (each way) - $4.00
• 2 horse, mule, or ox team (each way) - $2.50
• 1 horse, mule, or ox team (each way) -  $1.75
• 2 horse buggy (each way) - $1.50
• 1 horse buggy (each way) - $1.00
• Horseman - $0.50
• Footman - $0.25
• Loose stock - $0.10
• Hogs and sheep - $0.05

The Bridgeport Covered Bridge survived due to the extraordinary efforts of many people over the years. The original bridge was washed away by a flood in 1862 and was rebuilt in the same year. There was a great fire in 1988 that destroyed dozens of homes in Nevada County and came within 200 feet of the bridge before it was stopped by firefighters. Another flood in 1997 brought the flood waters up to the same level as 1862. In the restoration that followed the flood, the bridge was brought back to its original state (excluding the rail and windows).

The bridge was closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic on October 21, 2011. An inspection showed it needed repairs before it could be reopened. It will remain closed pending a detailed engineering report, which will help the county decide on the bridge's future.

Nevada County, California Bridges: Bridgeport Covered Bridge across the South Yuba River (3) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.