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.