Interior shot of the Wheaton Covered Bridge showing holes in the roof and the closure sign installed in July 2024
Tantramar Town Engineer Jon Eppell painted a grim picture Monday as he outlined various options for the future of the 110-year-old Wheaton Covered Bridge on the High Marsh Road.
“There is a very significant cost to doing anything with this bridge and it is not a one-time cost,” Eppell told town council.
“These types of bridges require frequent maintenance, something significant every five years and something quite significant, much more costly to do, every 15 to 20 years,” he said, as he outlined four options if the town chooses to take ownership of the bridge from the province.
But he also warned that an engineering study that would cost about $75,000 would be needed before any options could be considered.
Eppell said restoring the Wheaton Covered Bridge as a recreational crossing for pedestrians and cyclists would probably cost more than a million dollars while repairing and moving it to a new location would likely cost significantly more.
He said the bridge could be dismantled with the wood reused as a gazebo or benches that would maintain some elements of its history.
He said the town could build a much smaller ‘replica’ covered bridge at another site, an option that could cost several million dollars or it could simply let the province retain ownership, remove the bridge and dispose of it.
Parallel bridge
Town Engineer Jon Eppell
Eppell noted that the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) is planning to install a two-lane parallel bridge nearby that could accommodate road traffic and heavy farm vehicles.
DTI is close to purchasing the land that would be needed, Eppell said, and might build the parallel bridge next year.
“The reason that they have chosen to go on a parallel alignment is to allow Tantramar some time to sort out what we want to do as a community,” he said.
Deputy Mayor Josh Goguen suggested that moving the bridge onto the TransCanada trail might be a good idea.
“But I would like to see what the community wants to do with it before we come to some type of conclusion,” he said.
Councillor Alyssa Greene wondered what the people who built the bridge would want the town to do with it now.
“Would they say, ‘throw good money after something that’s broken’ or ‘construct something that’s serviceable to the community now?'” she asked, adding that she felt her forebears would say to build something useful, but preserve what they did in spirit and knowledge.
“I suspect the people that built that bridge would be amazed that it’s still around and that we haven’t replaced it with something more modern,” Eppell replied.
“It was fairly easy for them to build, but it was untreated timber out on the marsh very close to salt water and everything else and quite damp in those areas, so I think that this bridge has lasted 110 years is rather remarkable,” he said.
“We’ve gotten the money out of this one,” he added.
Mayor Wiggins-Colwell noted that it would cost DTI a million dollars to dismantle and dispose of the bridge and suggested that perhaps the town could use that money to restore it as a recreational bridge for pedestrians and cyclists.
“I think we need a lot more discussion on the Wheaton Covered Bridge,” she said.
Later, during the public question period, CAO Jennifer Borne acknowledged that the previous council had authorized the formation of a citizen’s committee to identify funding sources to restore the bridge and to integrate it into the town’s trail systems.
“Given the conversation this afternoon,” Borne said, “I hear from council that they’re still looking to form a committee.”
Symbol of old marsh
Logan Atkinson, past president Tantramar Heritage Trust
Logan Atkinson, past president of Tantramar Heritage Trust, says he’s glad to hear the town is still planning to form an ad hoc citizens committee.
“I would have liked to have seen the committee established in January or February, shortly after the resolution was passed by council,” he says.
“We do now have some time to get ourselves organized,” he adds, “but every month that goes by means the bridge is getting less and less secure and that’s a worry. So, let’s go, we’re ready to go.”
Atkinson says he would like to see the bridge restored for recreational use and as a tourist attraction along with the nearby TransCanada trail, the Campbell Carriage Factory Museum and one of the last hay barns on the High Marsh Road that is owned by Tantramar Heritage Trust.
“Package that together? Oh my gosh. You know, that’s a tourist mecca. Like, people on bikes and hiking and look, everybody would love that.”
Atkinson says that dismantling the bridge and using the wood to build something else would be like saying the old bridge itself has no value.
“Let’s not give up. This is one of the last remaining real symbols of the old marsh that we all inherited. And let’s really see what we can do with it.”
To read Jon Eppell’s written report on the Wheaton Covered Bridge, click here.
If the Wheaton Covered Bridge is eventually ‘dismantled’, perhaps a small replica bridge could be built between the narrow, and dangerous, Silver Lake, Main Street vehicle bridge and the concrete spillway.
I envision a pedestrian crossing that would FINALLY allow safe passage over this waterway and link, pedestrian wise, the Lillas Fawcett Park with our Trans Canada Trail.
It would be constructed along the lines of the Doncaster Covered Bridge in our Sackville Waterfowl Park, except it would be about twice as long.
The municipality of Tantramar has an employee in charge of tourism. What is their opinion on this topic? Any statement?
Why isn’t it a priority to build the new up to date bridge as it is needed by farmers and travellers in the region alike? I don’t understand the problem.. the other thing that seems obvious is just shoring up that historic bridge and preserving it for foot traffic and bicycles only… seems like a no brainer.. that bridge is so iconic and to lose it after a hundred years is really senseless.. Eppell doesn’t seem to care at all.
There are a number of things here that ought to be remembered.
First, DTI is proceeding with the new bridge such that farmers, emergency vehicles and regular traffic might have a route across the marsh. If Mr. Eppell’s estimate of a 2027 construction timeline is accurate, then that’s three years since the old bridge was closed. A long time, but at least it’s being done.
Second, while I respect Mr. Eppell’s research very much, he did not give enough weight to the tourism potential of this area. In fact, in his remarks to Council, he said that the tourism potential is minimal because, after all, no one goes there. Hmmm. What we need here is vision. What might we do? I have spoken with the coordinator of the Trail Towns project, and he is very excited about the possibility of creating a spur trail line off the Trans Canada trail, integrating the Campbell Carriage Factory Museum, the old bridge, and the well-maintained marsh barn a little further out High Marsh Road, on the left hand side, owned by the Tantramar Heritage Trust. Packaged together properly and promoted widely, we’d have bike tours and hiking tours and lots and lots of visitors. But we need vision here, we need enthusiasm for the possibilities, not a wave of the hand to dismiss.
Third, when the bridge was closed, the posted weight limit was 5 tons. Mr. Eppell based much of his commentary on a much higher weight restriction of 20 tons or 30 tons or higher. A couple of times he mentioned that the bridge couldn’t accommodate a school bus. But that’s not what we’re trying to do. We simply want the bridge restored to allow for recreational use – hikers, bikers. The cost to restore to this level would certainly be less.
Fourth, if the initial restoration work were done well (including a new roof and repairs to the structure as Mr. Eppell outlined, so as to support recreational use), then the ongoing maintenance would not be as extensive as reported. The main reason why the bridge is in relatively poor condition is because it has not been properly maintained. Once restored, ongoing maintenance would almost certainly be minimal.
Fifth, there has been no inquiry of any formal sort into what sort of funding might be available to help the municipality move forward with this project. This is true, despite the fact that the January municipal resolution called for just such an inquiry.
I just think we have to try. Let’s try. Let’s be creative and optimistic and really try to create something historic and meaningful, respectful of the past and attractive as a draw for tourists. Why not? Let’s not give up.
Has anyone considered consulting the Canadian Centre for Architecture for their professional input and asking the true professionals? Does anyone in Tantramar even know of this world class institution?
One of the reasons I would go out to the High Marsh Road to bikejour with my dogs (or just walk in general) is the bridge and peace out there. The bridge is a landmark and easily one of the most photogenic things in the area.
To remove it totally and not have a clue how to make it a tourist attraction shows, in my opinion, a SERIOUS lack of vision that really needs to be made note of.
Already there are options given in this very comment section, good options. While I’d miss it being on the marsh, having it ‘closer to town’, so to speak, should help with the wear, tear, and exposure to elements as harsh as it is out on the marsh itself.
In the end, the options are there, just the will to do them is needed and since Sackville REALLY needs to step up it’s attraction to visitors, this would be a prime time to start pushing on that front. Getting this wrong will cost us, and not just in heritage.
Totally senseless to get rid of an iconic part of Tantramar. The province doesn’t have a clue about boosting the tourism industry. Covered bridges are part of NB’s identity, and if valued would be a draw for tourism. The alternative is a boring, generic destination that will get fewer tourists, and a poorer, more boring place for those of us who live here.
I’d like to see evidence for the figures being thrown around: a million dollars to dismantle the bridge, a million dollars to restore it as a cycling bridge, “several million dollars” to build a “much smaller replica” elsewhere. These sound like random frightening numbers pulled out of a hat with no real evidence.
There was an intact three story house that was safely moved to a new location on York Street for way less money than the town is talking about for basically taking apart a barn, loading it on a truck, and putting it together somewhere else in town.
Why not discuss with the province the idea of building a stronger steel & concrete bridge with a traditional wooden covered bridge top? It’s not like it’s an impossible technical problem. It was possible to build a bridge from NB to PEI. Can the province really not figure out how to build a covered bridge for heavier vehicles that spans a river that is just a small stream at that point?
The town engineer isn’t an expert in timber construction. Why not get another opinion?
“It was fairly easy for them to build, but it was untreated timber out on the marsh very close to salt water and everything else and quite damp in those areas, so I think that this bridge has lasted 110 years is rather remarkable,” he said.
It was a lot harder for them to build the bridge without the power tools and heavy machinery that are common today. Lots of timber structures last for a century or centuries. The area of the bridge is no more damp or hostile to wooden structures than anywhere else in Sackville. In fact, the openness and lack of nearby trees and bushes prevents the structure from staying damp. And “close to salt water”? What has that got to do with the lifespan of timber? The Tantramar river is not tidal at the bridge site, so there is no salt water there. It stopped being tidal when the aboiteau was installed at the Transcanada many years ago. His assessment doesn’t sound like a serious examination of the bridge by a expert. It hardly even sounds like he’s gone to look at the site.
Jon, not only is the Tantramar River now simply a non tidal fresh water drainage system component but it no longer has to contend with the tidal action of moving ice flows back and forth as it did before the new TCH gate system was installed. The tumbling ice flows sometimes even creating river blockages were the curse and demise of many covered bridges during spring freshet when combined with the high tides.
I find it quite mindboggling that DTI did not look less than two kilometers upriver of the Wheaton Bridge at the Forks Road river crossing. There one finds only a locally sourced large diameter culvert in the Tantramar River which more than meets the needs of any heavily laden farm vehicle crossing over it.
DTI is purposely turning this into a political football, like the Pecks Cove Bridge in Lower Rockport which could be replaced via a culvert as well, similar to what was done when the covered bridge at Allen Creek was removed and a culvert was installed there.
DTI is turning a one hundred thousand dollar ‘culvert’ job into a multimillion dollar bridge boondoggle!