Old Boardman Bridge

Old Boardman Bridge is located in North Central Western New Milford, Northeast of the Junction of U.S. Route 7 and Boardman Road. It spans the Housatonic River a few feet north (upriver) of the current Boardman Bridge that carries Boardman Road over the water. There are small public parks at each end of the bridge, which is closed to all access. It is a lenticular truss structure built out of wrought iron, and is long, with a roadway width of . It passes about over the typical water level of the river. The trusses are set on abutments of rough-cut stone, with box girder columns supporting the ends of the trusses. Truss joints are pinned together. and there are numerous diagonal and cross-bracing elements of narrower gauge than the main chords. The deck is supported by I-bars descending from the trusses at 12 points, originally consisting of corrugated metal sheets laid on I-beams. ==History==

A wooden toll bridge, built in 1840, had been swept away in the flood of 1854. The Old Boardman Bridge was closed to vehicles, but was still open to foot traffic for another year before the deck was deemed to be unsafe, and the bridge was permanently closed with a chain-link fence. Efforts were made to restore the bridge in the early 2000s; however, the funds went to restoring Lover's Leap Bridge, the other lenticular truss bridge in town at Lovers Leap State Park. ==Future and Possible Restoration==

On July 26, 2017, with the suggestion of Mayor David R. Gronbach, the New Milford Town Council voted to establish the Old Boardman Bridge Committee to determine how to best rehabilitate and reopen the bridge to foot and bicycle traffic. As the current Boardman Bridge does not have sidewalks or shoulders, this would allow for safe pedestrian crossing between Route 7 and the Sega Meadows Trail and future New Milford River Trail. ==See also==