Covered Bridges of New BrunswickBurpee
Covered Bridge
(Gaspereau River No. 2)
Year: 1913
Status: In Operation
Condition: Very Good
Coordinates: To-do
Inside of the bridge is an information plaque with some history about the bridge.
The plaque reads as follows:
“The Burpee Bridge (known officially as Gaspereau River #2) was built in 1913 in Upper Gaspereau, Queens County. The bridge was named after the Ebenizer and Isaac Burpee family of Upper Gaspereau, Gaspereau was a prominent community in the 19th and early 20th century with 4 stores, a post office, and a school house in Upper Gaspereau and at the Forks. At the time the bridge was built the settlement population was approximately 300 people.
The bridge’s interior of vertical wood members and diagonals that slope up towards the center is a fine example of the relatively rare Howe truss construction technique. patented in 1840 by Massachusetts millwright William Howe. Queen post trusses are also used providing additional stability.
Burpee Bridge is one of three remaining covered bridges in Queens County and one of only 62 now left standing from among several hundred historic covered bridges in New Brunswick.
Affectionately known as ‘kissing bridges’ in days of yore, there was a commonly-held superstition that speeding through a covered bridge could cause the bridge to collapse. A law was passed ordering that horses must slow their gait when crossing the bridge, allowing passing sweethearts to take advantage of the moments of privacy and steal a kiss or two.”