Old 1928 Bridge
Comes Tumblin’ Down

Gene Woodward of Randolph plays the role of sidewalk superintendent as crews from Winterset Construction begins demolishing Randolph's Main Street bridge. The temporary bridge can be seen at left. (Herald photo / Bob Eddy)

The center of Randolph Village went through a very abrupt change in three days this week.

On Monday the old Main Street bridge over the Third Branch of the White River saw its last full day of service Monday, having stood since 1928. It was one of hundreds of bridges built in Vermont in 1928, in the aftermath of the Great 1927 Flood, which destroyed more than half the bridges in the state.

On Tuesday, traffic began flowing on the temporary bridge built just upstream last fall.

Within an hour of the opening of the temporary bridge, crews began wrecking the old bridge, and by Wednesday, a third of it was already in rubble.

The temporary bridge will be in use about a year, it is estimated.