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Watch a Historic, 140-Year-Old Bridge Get Swept Away by Vermont Floods
- Posted on August 29, 2011 at 7:50am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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The Bartonsville Bridge in Bartonsville, VT is a historic piece of architecture. It was built in 1871 and was apparently one of the longest town lattice bridges in Vermont. We say “was” because over the weekend, flooding due to Hurricane Irene wiped it out.
Business Insider found video of the heartbreaking collapse (CONTENT WARNING: the lady in the video uses some strong language to describe her disappointment):
Considering the extensive flooding in the state, this could be just the beginning.
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Comments (143)
v12tommy
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:44amWow, that lady is really worked up over a flipping bridge. Get over it. They can build another one. No big deal.
Report Post »Bounder
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 11:48amWow, aren’t you all practical an pragmatic? Might as will knock down the Leaning Tower of Pisa and replace it with a newer, better tower. As a matter of fact, just about all American historical monuments are pointless and should be replaced with more modern stuff. It’s all the same, right?
Report Post »right-wing-waco
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 12:18pmBounder
Report Post »Very well stated Bounder. I find it very sad that a historical bridge from 1871 is now gone. It cannot be replaced with an “equal” replacement. It is true it can and will be replaced with a modern one but part of our heritage is now gone forever.
Beckster2
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 12:23pmI grew up with bridges like these and rolling over them in your car was a time trip into history. You had to allow the oncoming car to cross or stay put as they only served one way traffic. The old covered bridge was beautiful, even the sounds of crossing it were memorable.
Report Post »michael8506
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 12:32pmYou have stumbled on an interesting argument. In Europe it is difficult to build anywhere because everything is “historic”. There is a lot of regulation. Here in the US the progressives use the environment as the excuse to control land. This is all part of a global effort put on through the UN called Agenda 21. I suggest you look into it.
Report Post »sedition
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 12:39pmAnother piece of history has washed away like america when Obama was elected.
RIGHT-WING-WACO
Report Post »Well said!!
AntiLiberal74
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 1:05pmGet a grip people. I’m pretty sure the bridge has been rehabbed numerous times in its history. I don’t think they would allow traffic over wood plankings that are 140 years old…
Report Post »Pastor Ray
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 1:20pmAnd it will be wider and stronger and better than that old one! In Ohio there are a lot of roads closed over some stupid wooden bridge and you have to go miles out of your way to get over a stream or creek!
Report Post »piper60
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 1:56pmYou Sir, are without compassion. You probably think anything older than 1960 isn’t worth saving.
Report Post »WSGAC
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 2:11pmThe woman is crying and dropping the F-bomb because a bridge goes into the drink? Good grief, these Blue states are full of nut balls. I wonder what her reaction would have been if an aborted fetus was on that bridge? No doubt a moral dilema for moon bats.
Report Post »WSGAC
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 2:20pmHey, another shovel-ready job made to order!
Report Post »decendentof56
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 3:17pmLook……I think we can agree its a shame about the bridge. Who doesn’t love a covered bridge?
The point about Vermonters?….We know not all of them are liberals/socialists. OK?
We also know that Vt. has elected Bernie Sanders and Howard Dean, and is a very liberal state. Its just that those whiners on the bridge video represent to most of us here the mindset of too many Vermonters.
After listening to people like maxine waters (she doesn’t deserve Caps, just her MOUTH) and Democrats in general call Republicans/Tea Party folks hateful and racist with nothing to back it up, we have had enough. After listening to the Deamonizers on MSNBC, we have had enough. They vilify, so we vilify.
We say your socialist welfare programs do not work, that they have destroyed too many black families, and despite the facts that they have, you call us racists. You want socialism, and we don’t.
Report Post »You don’t want a civil conversation, so we won’t have it.
KickinBack
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 3:43pmThe crumbling infrastructure of America! That’s right, nothing last forever. While you’re blaming big business, global warming, and Sarah Palin for the loss of the bridge, take comfort in knowing that Obama’s working out…right after his vacation.
Report Post »FATTYDAD
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 5:01pmHEY It stood there for a hundred and forty years, Dude. Have U NO human capacity for sentimentalism???
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 7:01pmIt’s a big deal if the towns people expect the government to finance the project, meaning, it will take years to start, another set of years until completion.
The best way to rebuild the bridge back to its historic look, is to form Bartonsville Historic Society, non-profit organization, raise funds and rebuild according to the members of the Bartonsville Historic Society. Because that requires work, many folks will be opposed to the idea.
Report Post »twency
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:56pmYup, just hop in their time machine to 1871 and build another one.
Report Post »FuturePresident
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 11:10pmI’m from Vt, not in it right now. But i hear there is all sorts of flooding in the state. As for the covered bridge they are a big VT thing. We are famous for them and it sucks it just got destroyed. But honestly lots of old failing bridges in Vermont so its no surprise.
Report Post »El Paso Girl
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 12:47amIt’s a 140 year old bridge. If your not from around this neck of the woods then you don’t know our history.
Report Post »So yes it is a big deal.
keepthechange
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:26amAny state that would send Bernie sanders to washington as thier representative deserves all that they get as far as i’m concerned vermont can go to hell!!!
Report Post »albryhno
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:49amClassy.
Report Post »tess q
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 10:23amit’s s shame to see this bridge gone but was that crying i heard???? this is that drop the baby save the puppy ( or bridge) mentality. vermont is a beautiful state inhabited by strange creatures.
Report Post »dukielouie
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 10:30amThey will have to build it SUSTAINABLE!! All the good government environmental cops will be out telling them how to build it using sustainable products made by prisoners supported by Van Jones.
Report Post »Thatsitivehadenough
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 11:04amToo bad Bernie Sanders wasn’t inside it when it went.
Report Post »Bluefish49
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 11:13amWhat would have made this perfect is if Barry, Nancy and Harry where in a car driving over the bridge when it fell into the river….I guess I can dream.
Report Post »sedition
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 12:45pmNice Head. Condemn the whole state how about getting behind them and showing them the light smarty pants. Just remember there are a lot more dumb people than there are smart ones so when you can pull the wool over their eyes look what you get…Commander in chief case in point
Report Post »kasper512
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:18amif you don’t stand far something you will fall far anything
Report Post »AmeriCat
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 3:30pmKnow who you are and what your values are.
Do your own research and READ…
Feel confident in knowing and speaking truth.
And when the Valkyries finally come to your door,
Report Post »YOU will remain standing and the Truth will set THEM free!
qpwillie
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:16amtrolltrainer,
Report Post »It is indeed sad to see a piece of history destroyed but the “other side” is led by people who are hell bent on Purposely (Please notice the capital P) doing a similar thing to our country. I, for one, believe that’s just plain evil. Compromise with evil? Never!!!
trolltrainer
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 11:44amDo me a favor, if you are going to respond to me at least do the courtesy of using the reply button so we will all know what you are responding to. I do not believe I personally said anything about compromise?
However, now that you bring the subject up, compromise is how this government works. No one has ever totally had it his own way, that would be a dictatorship. When Congress is unwilling to compromise then nothing moves forward…Which in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. Change should come slow and by consensus of majority opinion. Lately this principle has been corrupted. But the point still remains that as a private citizen you can sit in your easy chair and call everyone who disagrees with you a disparaging name. That is your right. But as an elected official your job is to work with all these other people with differing beliefs and reach compromises that everyone can live with. That is simply the way the founding fathers intended it and how it has always been in this country. Remember, a liberal does not like your ideas any more than you like his. You can spend your time hating each other or…find some common ground on which you can both move forward. That is reality.
Report Post »BryanMA27
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:14amThe stereotype that everyone in the Northeast is a blind liberal Obama worshipper is getting old. As a right-leaning independent I can see the hatred on both sides and anyone participating in it is part of the problem. This is a beautiful area of the country and lately we have had our share of natural disasters and hardships. The fact that many on this site are quick to dismiss any sympathy for a northern state because it is a so called “blue” state only solidifies my decision to abandon both parties. You are no better than the liberals you criticize when you revel in the misery of your fellow Americans. You all sicken me, left and right.
Report Post »UBETHECHANGE
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:43amGood post and true.
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:47amWell the hippies of Vermont sicken me. Their Commie/Socialist agenda is ruining this country. As far as tragedy, this is a joke, it’s a bridge, it can be rebuilt. If you want to see a tragedy, see what happens after a tornado in fly over country.
Report Post »TheValley
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 10:10amTroll
Report Post »Inbred Jed
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 10:26amVERY well put. Many peoples comments on this site make me ashamed to call my self an independent thinking conservative. You can stand up for something without name calling, constant bickering and hate mongering. There are many brilliant people that contribute to this site but it is sad to see that often the comments just remind me of the polar opposite of the HuffPo. That pendulum does swing both ways, and when you pull it so far to one side, it has to swing back to the other. If people would either spend time and effort on debating or discussing the core issue, or contribute some true thought into solutions for some of the things we don’t like, perhaps we can make a difference. All the name calling, lame stereotyping, and stating that people “deserve” bad things happening to them just because of their political or religious affiliations truly suits no purpose. It simply gives fodder to those who call us haters and nutbags. By many of the posts that have been on The Blaze they would have plenty of evidence to site in any discussion on that matter.
Report Post »izzy1127
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 11:00amThank you for speaking up. There are many conservatives who choose to live in blue states because of what they offer or because of their beauty, or just because it’s home. It is a shame to see these old bridges get swept away like that. It’s something I will never get to see if and when I visit Vermont. Also, there are so many places I can’t visit here in the South because the North decided to burn them down during the Revolution. It’s just something we deal with. A war took our history and mother nature take their history. Just a part of life and we deal with it. Leave the politics out of it, please.
Report Post »izzy1127
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 11:02amSorry, meant to say Civil War………
Report Post »1ManCalling
Posted on August 30, 2011 at 5:31pmTruth!!!
Report Post »SodamYat
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:13amThats what you get for killing Geena Davis and William Baldwin in beatlelguist BRIDGE!!
Report Post »mcmeador
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 10:18amDang it! You beat me to it!
Report Post »fastfacts
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:11amWHAT CAN YOU DO? FLOODS WILL FLOOD AND DISASTERS WILL DESTROY…
Have you seen the brave pilots of the Air Force investigating Hurricane Irene… they are called the Hurricane Hunters: http://www.americanparchment.com/video/2011/aug/airforce_hurricane_watchers.html
Report Post »UBETHECHANGE
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:05amSmart a.. comments aside from the peanut gallery, how awful that a 140 yr old American/Vermont icon was destroyed in seconds. Sorry for your loss Vermontians.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartonsville_Covered_Bridge
Report Post »kjung
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:04amTwo things you can be sure of regarding this bridge:
1) Replacement costs will be at least partially funded by the federal government.
2) Replacement costs will be a minimum of 10 times what they should be.
Report Post »Ducky 1
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 12:24pmReplacement will be very slow due to EPA and other government regulations!
Report Post »Ellie96
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:59amIt is a shame that a community land mark has been washed away. Perhaps for the people videoing this destruction, seeing the bridge destroyed was the straw that broke the camels back and their emotional response caught on 20-30 seconds of video is perfectly appropriate. The negative comments on The Blaze directed at this family are disappointing. The fact is, we don’t know what they have been going through. They may be people who despise everything I stand for …but for this moment…I will agree with them that it is a shame to see the bridge go.
Report Post »keepthechange
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:30amYeah and you have sympathy for satan too i’m sure!
Report Post »Inbred Jed
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 10:30amKeepthechange. Really ? Please elaborate on that brilliant assertion. You statement sounds a bit more as if Satan would be behind the keyboard than Ellie96′s.
Report Post »vtxphantom
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 12:08pmI am not that sympathetic with the lose of this bridge. It was most likely not maintained to withstand the conditions of the day it fell. It was built to a code of 140 years ago. They could have improved it over the years, but most likely took no action. If you live around these structures, as I have, they do not receive the care they should get, and they will fall
Report Post »Msgt Ret
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:54amBush should have known this would happen.
Report Post »iamHeidi
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:48amMan, you guys are brutal! :)
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 11:09amSure, Sure
We are constantly called Racist, Homophobe’s , Bigot’s,, Miserly, . At what point do you react to slander?Pick a side TAKER or Provider. Which are you??
Report Post »clockwatcher
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:47amThe people of Vermont will blame it on Bush. The state is full of Nobama lovers, maybe they can get some shovel ready jobs money.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 11:02amAll the shovel ready JOB money is safely in the hands of Dick Trumpka, and Barry’s other union buddies. It won‘t rebuild this bridge but will fund Barry’s run of the “Screw America More Reelection” Tour
No Bridge For You.
Report Post »rfycom
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:41amThey and you commenters are all Americans. The great thing about the USA is we are a bunch of messed up people. Many different types of thinkers who used to come together and make great decisions that built a great nation. Now we all hate the people who don’t think just like us. We can them anti americans. We see compromise as weakness. Shame on all of you, but not me cause I am drunk on Monday morning and don‘t give a bat’s ass.
Report Post »iamHeidi
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:49amI’ll drink to that!
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:54amrfycom,
You must be drunk because usually your posts are just blatant trolls.
This one however…Nails it my friend. Completely nails it. I have been doing some serious thinking on this very subject lately. All I can say is you cannot use the people who comment here as an example of the wider whole of society. This site, like the huffington post, is intentionally designed to drive the hatred for “the other side.”
Anyway…I dont drink anymore, but as someone who used to appreciate a good morning buzz I raise my cyberglass to you. Peace.
Report Post »Knight Templar
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:01amIf you compromise on principle it is weakness.
Report Post »Nathaniel Horn
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:14amSNAFU- RFYCOM: You couldn’t be more right. Makes me want to go pour some Coconut Rum on ice right now… Might make me forget about those nightmares last night and the ones I wake up to personally and nationally… :)
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 10:27amRFY..You have a President whose close friend is sad because he didn’t blow up more buildings, with soldiers, in the 60s & early seventies. I’d call that anti-American
Report Post »Inbred Jed
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 10:33amWell stated RFY and Trolltrainer, Unfortunately 2 wrongs do not make a right. More of the classic “Do as I say, not as I do” Far too many people here and at the Huff Po are guilty of acting just like what the criticize. Hypocrisy 101
Report Post »CapitalismCzar
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:28amShe’s upset because she used to drive her foreign car to her union job over that bridge. Now she can’t live the American dream.
Report Post »n7plus1
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:32amlol…
these people are pathetic crying about an old bridge. get a life. i lul’d @ the crying and the guy saing ‘im sad”
Report Post »lobster
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:40amThey’ll have to have the Chinese build it . We can’t cut down big enough trees anymore. We have a picture of that one from 15 years ago. In Texas it’ll take 2 months to rebuld it, and in CA if they gave a bonus to the crew, less than three weeks.
Report Post »loadingmyclips
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:01amHey watchit!
Report Post »MASTER YODA
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 1:18pmWhat is really sad is this possible liberal doesn’t shed a tear for the murdered babies in her state and country, or cry for the destruction of our great country, boo hoo for the bridge though.
Report Post »lvfreemontst
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:26amFor any person to get that emotional over a man made structure needs professional help—
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:26am1871 … I think they got their money’s worth out of it
Report Post »Charles
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:25amOnly in Vermont. They so worshiped this old bridge they wept and cried out to God when it was swept away. Do vermont liberals even believe there is a God? I doubt it. If it was an abortion or thousands of abortions they would just sip their latte and gaze on without affection. And they do.
Report Post »meeester
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:19amAll those years that the bridge watched the water flow by and it finally got a chance to take a swim, to go with the flow, itself.
Report Post »It was a nice graceful sweep into the flow.
cactusjoe
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:07amHay more shovel ready jobs.
Report Post »WhippedPuppy
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:50amYes, but with Obama’s new diversity EO, minorities of all shades or sexual orientation will get first crack at them. Hmmm, maybe Vermont will have to import a few folks to fill those jobs.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:55amHey,
Hay – It’s for horses!
Report Post »TheValley
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:02amNot your typical hardy New Englanders either one of them, oh wait, that’s right, it is “The People’s Republic of Vermont”…In New Hampshire it would have been….”Let’s get to work boys and build a new one, in Vermont, they whine and cry.
Report Post »decendentof56
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:44amVermonters ……whiney, stupid, socialists. Talk about your 60′s hippie/save the whale idiots. Sure, I loved those old covered bridges, too. My wife and I used to go up to Vermont in the 70′s/early 80′s. It is beautiful…..then, we discovered how very much Vermonters were aligned with radical environmentalists. I guess its been 25 years since we’ve been there. Have a nice life, a-holes!
Report Post »mwhaley
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:01amI smell more stimulus for shovel ready jobs
Report Post »I_Hate_Libs
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:00amOk these people need to start crying over important stuff like the destruction of our country due to the Obama administration and not the destruction of a bridge that should have been replaced 100 years ago.
The horror of the Democrat mind.
Report Post »meeester
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:23amThe sniffer will have to get her whiner credentials checked. They forgot to apply the Buddhist principle of “ah-there it goes” to the moment.
Report Post »elrond3737
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 7:59amwhy swear.? no one died…it can be rebuilt
Report Post »loadingmyclips
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 9:03amyeah it was probably ready to fall in anyway!
Report Post »Cat
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 7:56amNow it will take the government 140 years to replace it.
Report Post »derekcranex
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:02amLonger, if the EPa gets involved.
Report Post »Cat
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:10amAgreed, DEREKCRANEX
Report Post »Smoke Ranch
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 8:29amOr OSHA.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 1:11pmAre they going to build a Mosque next to the new bridge??
Report Post »