‘Sad to see history leave us’: New Brunswick covered bridge torn down

A nearly century-old covered bridge in New Brunswick was torn down on Wednesday.

A piece of New Brunswick’s history was torn down Wednesday morning.

Work crews began the demolition of the William Mitton Covered Bridge in Riverview, N.B., just before 7 a.m.

The 23-metre-long structure had fallen into disrepair over the years and couldn’t be saved.

George Jones grew up right next door to the old bridge and brought his family to watch the excavators rip apart the boards and beams.

He knew it had to be torn down because of the state it was in.

“They should have fixed it 20 years ago when the roof started leaking and they wouldn’t be tearing it down now,” said Jones. “Watching it fall down has been hard on the heart too. It’s sad to see history leave us.”

Jones said he spent more time playing under it than on it when he was a kid.

“It was just like having your own super fortress to play with,” said Jones.

George’s daughter Ruth was also sad to see it go.

“I have memories of my dad and I going canoeing under that bridge. My cousins and I used to play on it,” said Ruth.

But it’s especially hard for the Mitton family that live on a farm overlooking where the bridge now used to be.

William Mitton, the grandson of the man the bridge was named after, said it had been there his entire life.

“It’s always been like sort of part of the farm here you know,” said Mitton. “There was a lot of pictures taken of the bridge with the farm in the background. It’s really a shame.”

Mitton’s wife Heather called it a sad day.

“I hated to see it in the condition it was. So really, if they weren’t going to do anything about it, it’s better off being torn down than sitting there in that condition,” she said.

Department of Transportation and Infrastructure spokesperson Jacob MacDonald said a demolition team started work on Tuesday to permanently remove the bridge.

“The bridge was moved to its current site in 1942 and later bypassed with the alignment of Route 112 in the early 1980s,” said MacDonald in an email. “It has been closed to traffic since that time, as it was no longer needed to service traffic.”

MacDonald said even though it wasn’t in use and clearly marked with closure signs, removing it will ensure the safety of the public and protect the environment.

Before the work began, the bottom of the bridge was just a few feet from the muddy banks of the Petitcodiac River.

Covered bridge historian Raymond Boucher had been trying to preserve the bridge for years.

The president of the Covered Bridges Conservation Association of New Brunswick isn’t sure exactly how old it was, but said it was likely built decades before 1942.

“I’ve been watching this bridge deteriorate since about 2017,” said Boucher. “As much as we want to save them all, some are just not savable I guess.”

Boucher said there are only 58 covered bridges left in the province.

“In the 1950s, we know for sure there was 343 of them,” said Boucher.

Boucher and his group have been working with the provincial government to save as many as they can.

“But there’s some that that’s just not economical. This one here would have cost over a million dollars to repair,” said Boucher.

By mid-morning, there wasn’t much left of the historical wooden structure.

Boucher made sure to grab a piece of wood as a keepsake.

The cleanup continued throughout the day and the province said work is expected to be completed by the end of the week.

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