Butts Bridge, Steel road bridge in Canterbury, Connecticut.
Butts Bridge is a steel road crossing over the Quinebaug River in Canterbury built with a Parker truss design. It spans approximately 231 feet (70 meters) with a 31-foot (9-meter) wide roadway supported by concrete foundations.
It was built in 1936 by Fort Pitt Bridge Works in response to severe flooding that damaged earlier structures at this crossing. The construction marked the shift to modern steel engineering for regional infrastructure.
This structure shows how communities adapted to automobile traffic in the early 20th century and modernized their crossing points. It reflects the shift from traditional river crossing methods to engineered road infrastructure.
The bridge connects Norwich and Plainfield along a regional road and accommodates regular vehicle traffic between these communities. Pedestrians can cross here to travel between the two towns, especially when traffic is lighter.
Older bridge abutments remain visible upstream, leaving physical traces of earlier construction methods at this river crossing. These remnants allow visitors to compare different engineering approaches from different time periods.
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