County
Crouch Needs A Covered Bridge, Not Super Span
April 19, 2011 
WHITE'S BRIDGE ON FLAT RIVER, MICHIGAN
Folks in the tiny mountain hamlet of Crouch probably have a legitimate beef with the Boise County Commishes when it comes to construction of a new bridge across the Middle Fork of the Payette River. Some residents call it overkill, according to quotes in a KTVB story Tuesday.
The ancient single lane span has outlived its safe life and needs replacing, but the Commishes have spent about $300,000 on design of a two laner with bike lanes on either side. The design is without character or imagination, but probably quite functional.
Pont Perreault Bridge over the Chaudiere River, Quebec
The GUARDIAN proposes an alteration to the plan to make the new crossing a COVERED BRIDGE which would serve well in the snow country and also make a great tourist attraction and day trip destination from Boise. We have included sample photos from U.S. and Canada as guides.
With all the timber and logging activity in the area, it would be a good community project to cut the wood and build a roof and timber frame onto the new cement span. Like an Amish barn raising, it could be done in a day or two with proper planning and make news across the country.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Apr 20, 2011, 9:46 am
A covered bridge is what some folks in Crouch and Garden Valley wanted and proposed in the early phases of the design. It would be a novelty and a point of interest for the community and visitors. Instead the design came back as something you would expect to see on HW 55. As designed, the bridge would have cement walls standing nearly six feet high; making it an eye sore and doing nothing to maintain the look and feel of this rustic mountain town. The design is all about functionality.
This youtube video that was posted on the gvdailynews blog site must have been made with the Crouch bridge project in mind: http://www.strongtowns.org/strong-towns-videos/
Apr 20, 2011, 12:03 pm
Because the Guardian so seldom makes a mis-statement, there are precious few nits to pick. However, is it not the MIDDLE fork Payette River that flows under the existing bridge in Crouch?
If not, please accept my most abject apology.
EDITOR NOTE–Muck, you need to get in line. You were the third reader to catch the mistake. We fixed it after #1 called from Crouch.
Apr 20, 2011, 9:43 pm
I can see it now. A load limit not adhered to (steele bridge in Caldwell) abused routinely and a set of doubles along with a load of logs and splinters in the river.
Next we would have a lawsuit because the load limit signage was not properly placed or of the right color or ???
Build a bridge to witstand modern loads and vehicles or don’t bother.
EDITOR NOTE–We agree. But then dress it up with a cover and lower the 6 foot cement side walls.