Data methodology

Every bridge page is built only from the sources below. Each fact shows a numbered citation, and every page shows the date we last checked it (2026-11-01).

Sources

• Vermont ANR / VTrans covered bridges map layer
• NH Division of Historical Resources covered bridge inventory
• MaineDOT Historic Covered Bridges
• MaineDOT Historic Bridges in Maine
• National Register of Historic Places (NPS), via Wikidata reference number
• VTrans project factsheet: Salisbury-Cornwall Bridge No. 8
• WCAX News, "Landmark covered bridge in Troy collapses from fire damage" (Feb 6, 2021)
• MassDOT bridge inventory (Roads/Bridges GIS layer)
• CTDOT Bridges open data (state and town bridge inventory)
• Visit Connecticut (state tourism office): Covered Bridges
• U.S. Census Bureau geocoder (county subdivision = town)
• Wikipedia: List of covered bridges in Massachusetts
• Wikipedia: List of covered bridges in Connecticut
• Wikipedia: List of covered bridges in New Hampshire
• MaineDOT: Babbs Bridge
• MaineDOT: Bennett Bridge
• MaineDOT: Hemlock Bridge
• MaineDOT: Lovejoy Bridge
• MaineDOT: Lowes Bridge
• MaineDOT: Porter Parsonsfield Bridge
• MaineDOT: Robyville Bridge
• MaineDOT: Sunday River Bridge
• Wikipedia: Old Covered Bridge
• Wikipedia: Robbins Nest Covered Bridge
• Wikipedia: Spade Farm Covered Bridge
• Wikipedia: Ware–Hardwick Covered Bridge
• Wikipedia: Watson Settlement Bridge
• Wikipedia: County Farm Bridge (Dover, New Hampshire)
• Wikipedia: Enfield–Suffield Covered Bridge
• Wikipedia: Goffstown Covered Railroad Bridge
• Wikipedia: Bedell Covered Bridge
• Wikipedia: Gates Farm Covered Bridge
• Wikipedia: Waterman Covered Bridge
• Wikipedia: Swamp Meadow Bridge
• Wikipedia: Dean Covered Bridge
• Wikipedia: Burrington Covered Bridge
• Wikipedia: Centre Covered Bridge
• Wikidata (CC0): locations, waterways, National Register reference numbers and photo links for bridges without a state record
• FCC Census Area API: county from coordinates; U.S. Census Bureau geocoder: town names where the state layer lists a village or variant spelling
• MassDOT and CTDOT bridge inventories, and Visit Connecticut: facts for Massachusetts and Connecticut bridges
• Wikipedia articles and lists: used only for a bridge's surviving, rebuilt or lost status when no official source covers it, and always cited
• Wikimedia Commons: photos, used only with a recorded license and credit, and only when the file title names that bridge

How we combine records

• State records come first. Wikidata entries within 350 m of a state record are treated as the same bridge and only add fields the state record lacks.
• Bridges on the Connecticut River appear in both the Vermont and New Hampshire inventories; we publish one page and note both listings.
• Bridge status is kept separate from historic status. "Listed in the state's inventory" is not a claim that a bridge is open to traffic.
• Anything without a source shows as Not verified. We never infer parking, vehicle access, load limits, hours or accessibility from the existence of a road.
• Distances between bridges are straight-line, not driving distances.

What gets indexed

A bridge page is offered to search engines only when it has (1) an official state or National Register record, (2) verified coordinates, (3) a status that is not lost or unconfirmed, and (4) at least four sourced facts. Other pages stay readable but carry a noindex tag and are left out of the sitemap. A state page is indexed when it has at least five fully verified bridges.

Known gaps

• Vermont's state layer gives town, location and year, but not truss type or length.
• Massachusetts and Connecticut have no dedicated covered bridge list; we use their DOT bridge inventories where a bridge appears there. Rhode Island has no official list we could find.
• Vermont's state layer is not fully current: at least two bridges in it have since been lost, and we mark them as lost with a source.
• USGS GNIS no longer includes bridges in its domestic names file, so it is not a source here.