An historic covered bridge is being demolished after it was badly damaged by ice and flood waters last weekend.
The Bell Bridge in Hoyt, N.B. will be replaced with a new single lane, steel bridge that will be located a metre higher in an effort to better survive future floods.
Demolition crews arrived on scene Wednesday and will spend a few days tearing down the 87-year-old bridge.
Transportation Minister Bill Fraser says it will be six to eight weeks before the new, modular bridge is complete.
In the meantime, a contractor with a heavy-duty vehicle has been hired to provide taxi service to residents stranded by the bridge closure and unable to drive on a rough woods road into the area.
The Bell Bridge is one of three covered bridges in Hoyt, but residents say it was a significant landmark and favoured gathering spot.
“As a teenager growing up, I spent my entire summers here, swimming and having wiener roasts and marshmallow roasts and corn boils,” says resident Debbie McCann.
New Brunswick reportedly had about 340 covered bridges in the early 1940s, but once the Bell Bridge is removed, that number will be just 58.
They remain a major part of tourism marketing for the province -- which calls them "kissing bridges" and offers a map of them.
“We understand the emotional attachment that New Brunswickers have to these covered bridges, and it’s never our desire to remove a covered bridge,” says Fraser.
Just last week, a Sussex-area bridge was damaged by a motor vehicle accident.
And last fall, the 104-year-old Hammond River Bridge had to be removed due to extensive wood rot. Attempts to repair it ended when a large excavator loaded with lumber crashed through the bridge deck. It is being replaced with a new modular bridge.
Premier Brian Gallant announced last week that his government plans to spend $670 million in capital work on the province's 3,500 bridge structures over the next five years.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Nick Moore and The Canadian Press
