Ranger Bridge, Steel arch bridge between Wells River and Woodsville, United States.
Ranger Bridge, officially Veterans Memorial Bridge, is a three-hinged steel arch truss carrying U.S. Route 302 over the Connecticut River between Wells River, Vermont, and Woodsville, New Hampshire. Its arch springs from the banks in a single steel span, and it is the oldest steel arch bridge over the Connecticut River.
This bridge was built in 1923 by the Boston Bridge Company following a design by J.R. Worcester. It replaced an earlier bridge that was destroyed by flooding.
The bridge stands as the oldest steel arch crossing over the Connecticut River, demonstrating engineering methods from the early twentieth century.
The bridge carries U.S. Route 302 across the Connecticut River between Wells River, Vermont, and Woodsville, New Hampshire. It was rehabilitated in 2001–2003, so the 1923 steel arch is still in service for road traffic. Approach it from Route 302 on either bank; the deck is narrow and shared with vehicles.
The 1923 bridge is the third crossing at this spot: a 1903 bridge carried rail and road traffic, and its 1917 road successor, a Warren deck truss designed by John W. Storrs, was undermined and destroyed by a flood in 1922.
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