The bridge sits very high over the water, so
much so that the road enters and leaves at a very
steep angle. This lofty perch is what has enabled
it to survive the many floods, including the one
in 1927 that removed the vast majority of the
other bridges in Vermont.
There is even a ledgend that during one
particularly high spring run-off, the Cate Bridge
-- then also a wooden, covered structure -- was
washed downstream and passed under the
Coburn Bridge. It was found high and dry on the
riverbank some distance downstream. The
thrifty town folk pulled it back into the river,
floated it upstream to the Cate Road and reset it
on its foundation. (That Cate Bridge is long
since gone, replaced several times, most
recently by one of steel and concrete.)
This page © 2004 David A. Coburn