‘It’s sad’: Third covered bridge to be torn down in New Brunswick in less than a year

The Poirier Covered Bridge in New Brunswick is facing the wrecking ball.

What’s left of the Poirier Covered Bridge in Notre-Dame, N.B., will likely be gone in the very near future.

The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) closed the bridge to traffic on July 2 due to its deteriorating condition.

The 41-metre bridge was built in 1942 and stands over the Cocagne River, roughly 20 minutes north of Moncton.

DTI staff were on scene working on the bridge Tuesday and have been doing so since October.

Pat Toth, Covered Bridges Conservation Association of New Brunswick interim president, said he’s always saddened when a covered bridge is lost.

“Especially when they’re deliberately removed,” said Toth. “This is the third bridge in 2025 that we’ve lost. The worst year since 1989. All three of them have been demolished.”

Last February, the William Mitton Bridge in Riverview was demolished because it had fallen into disrepair and couldn’t be saved.

The Shepody River #3 Covered Bridge near Riverside-Albert was dismantled in the spring, but was replaced with a single-lane modular bridge.

When Poirier is gone, Toth said there will be only 56 covered bridges left in the province.

There were between 340 to 350 in New Brunswick around the 1950s, he said.

Toth believes wooden bridges could be better preserved if the wooden trusses were protected better from the weather.

“I’m not an engineer, I’m not a politician. However, from what I can see they would have to be properly maintained in a timely manner,” said Toth.

Ginette Leblanc lives near the Poirier bridge and said, when it was closed to traffic this summer, locals tried to convince the province to save it.

“It’s sad. We tried our best to hopefully convince them they shouldn’t tear it down, but they felt it wasn’t safe so they tore it down,” said LeBlanc. “We took pictures and we were going there to see every night what they had taken down.”

Transportation minister Chuck Chiasson said the province has to be certain all bridges can handle the capacity they were designed for.

“When we see deterioration on a bridge, for one reason or another, we either lower the weight-bearing capacity of that bridge or we close that bridge down in some cases when it gets to be a little too extreme,” said Chiasson.

LeBlanc said the bridge is used a lot by snowmobile and four-wheeler riders in the area.

“So we’re hoping that they’ll have it fixed and all done up and we’ll be able to enjoy our winter season,” she said.

CTV News reached out to DTI for an update on the project. It said once the structure is removed a modular bridge will be installed to continue access across the river.

“Project costs have not been finalized, but the anticipated cost for removal of the existing structure and replacement with a single-lane modular bridge is estimated to be between $500,000 and $750,000,” spokesperson Jacob MacDonald said in an email.

Toth feels the public needs to be more aware of the plight of the covered bridges before they’re all gone.

“People have to be aware that a lot of them are in trouble and they need to get involved. Make calls, call their MLA,” said Toth. “Get involved and try to save them.”

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