Ellis River

The Pinkham Notch Visitor Center and the Joe Dodge Lodge are located on the north side of Ellis River, while the public parking lot is on the south side. For years, visitors would park their vehicles and cross the river using the New Hampshire Route 16 Bridge. As traffic increased, it became more dangerous for pedestrians to use the bridge, especially during the winter with snow banks along the narrow road.

To remedy the situation, NHDOT worked with Contech to design a Continental ^® Connector ^® style pedestrian truss structure that met the state’s requirements, including the ability to support heavy snow loads. Ellis River is also a pristine mountain stream, so a clear span structure was the only acceptable solution.

The bridge was installed over the Ellis River adjacent to the vehicular bridge and painted to match. The structure is set on cast-in-place abutments supported by H-piles located just a few feet upstream from the vehicular bridge. Wyman & Simpson installed the H-piles and abutments. Two large cranes were used to lift the structure into place on the piers.

“We were allowed a four-hour lane closure and had the bridge set well within that time frame” said Doug Hermann,President of Wyman & Simpson. “It’s a well-built, rugged bridge. We spliced it and placed it and that was it”