Pont Grandchamp

#18 - Pont Grandchamp in Ste-Geneviève-de-Berthierville - December 31, 2009

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After visiting a record 13 bridges by the middle of December, Serge decided that that was an unlucky number and we had to visit one more! LOL So we decided to visit this bridge that is just a few minutes away from the ferry we use to cross over the St-Lawrence to go to Serge's parents' house. On our way to their house for New Year's Eve, we stopped by here. Built in 1918, it is 113 feet long and crosses la Rivière Bayonne. It is quite busy and I often called out ''Car!'' to get the kids to stick to the sides of the bridge to let the cars pass safely.

It was very cold and we were not really dressed for cold weather, my fingers were frozen as I adjusted the tri-pod and set the camera!!! So we quickly took our picture and left!

So our second year of Covered Bridges has come to an end...let's see if we can beat our record of 14 in the next year! :0)

Pont Caron

#17 - Pont Caron in Val Alain - December 12, 2009

After having some hot chocolate, we drove off to find our next bridge. This one was kinda on the way back to the highway. Built in 1933, it is 81 feet long and crosses the Grande Riviere du Chene. It seemed so boring after the last one we saw...It looks kinda blueish though, which makes it different. We did go out into the field a little to get a nice side picture.

It's funny, I had read that it has a mailbox tucked inside and thought it was ironic that the address on the mailbox is the same address as the house that has "no parking" and "private property" signs all over the yard!!!

We took our family picture in the beautiful late afternoon sun and then caught the highway and drove home! We managed to visit 3 out of 5 planned for the day, but with the sun setting around 4:30pm in December, we have less time in the day. That's ok, we will have to set out again on another day!

Serge and I discussed the fact that these would be our last bridges for 2009...we visited 13 this year! Then we remembered the one just a few minutes away from the ferry that we take to go to his parents' house and we decided that if the weather permits, we will try to get it in on December 31st when we go up for New Year's Eve! :0)

Pont Rouge

#16 - Pont Rouge in Ste-Agathe-de-Lotbinière - December 12, 2009

After driving north out of Thetford-Mines to find the garage we were heading to, we decided not to go back south to the second bridge on my list. The skies were looking kinda grey and we weren't sure we wanted to drive around on those country roads in the hills too long so we decided to keep the bridge in St-Sylvestre for another day. This is a few minutes away from where our friend camps in the summer so we would visit her and stop by the bridge on the way.
So we moved on to the fourth bridge on my list. The guy at the garage told us a bit about it. Apparently it is well known because many people have drowned here! We were pleasantly surprised as we turned a corner and saw this amazing bridge! It is beautiful! Built in 1928, it is 130 feet long and crosses Palmer River. The inside of the bridge is lined in metal bars, keeping people safely inside. It's a long way down to the rushing river below! There is a fence on all sides of the bridge and even if I walked up the road a bit to try to get a good picture from the side, there are too many trees! I wouldn't have let the kids go anywhere near the edge, especially in the snow.

Looking out from the bridge we can see a suspended bridge, that was beautifully covered in ice on this day and we wondered of we could go on that to get a picture of this covered bridge but the park that leads to the suspended bridge was closed for the winter. Serge and I made the decision to come back during the spring or summer to get better pictures!

Pont Lambert

#15 - Pont Lambert in Ste-Sophie-d'Halifax - December 12, 2009

I didn't think we would visit covered bridges in winter but Serge needed to go to Thetford-Mines to pick up parts for his Beetle project, so I started looking for bridges in the area. There are quite a few actually but I got directions for one on the way, one about 30 minutes past Thetford-Mines and after making a small detour, 3 on the way home. 5 was a bit ambitious but I thought if we left early we might be able to do it.

So we stopped here on the way. Built in 1948, it is 89 feet long and crosses the Rivière Bulstrode. This one is quite different than the ones we usually see. It is very high and narrow! This was also our first white bridge, all the others have been red or faded grey and the Pont du Lac Ha!Ha! that is green. We went down on the other side and got some good pictures of the whole bridge but watching the kids slipping in the snow, so close to the river's edge scared me a little so I called them back to the truck and we left to find a McDonald's...no picnics this time!

Blogue sur les ponts couverts

I was so surprised when I got to the bridge in St-Mathieu-du-Parc and found the bridge had been renovated and there was no mention of it on Pascal's website. So I wrote him a little e-mail and showed him all my pictures of the ''new'' bridge.

I told him that the bridge in St-Séverin also looked new and that it was still closed when we got there. He wrote back that this bridge was closed because of the Festival Country de St-Tite. They closed the bridge for the week-end so there wouldn't be too much traffic on the bridge. It was open again a few days later!

Then, in December, Pascal wrote to ask if he could use my pictures of the bridge in ST-Mathieu to show the followers on his blog that the brideg had finaly been renovated. I of course said yes and he posted my pictures and also wrote a little note about our adventures! :0)

http://web.me.com/pascal721/Pontscouverts/Blogue_sur_les_ponts/Entr%C3%A9es/2009/12/15_Entr%C3%A9e_1.html

Pont Bordeleau

#14 - Pont Bordeleau in St-Séverin-de-Proulxville - September 19, 2009

After having our little picnic at the rest area in St-Mathieu, we set out for this bridge in St-Séverin-de-Proulxville. After seeing a long line of traffic ahead and remembering that it was the "Festival Western" in St-Tite that week-end, we cut across a small country road to get here. We were surprised by the "bridge closed" sign when we got there! Pascal`s website said it was open. We parked by the sign, walked over to the bridge and settled on the rocks to have dessert and tea. This bridge looked like it had undergone some work, just like the one in St-Mathieu. It looked shiny and new and there was the same pile of new looking rocks and the lack of vegetation on the banks and we wondered why it was still closed...perhaps they weren't done.

Built in 1932, it is 111 feet long and crosses la Rivière des Envies.

As we watched, many other cars came to the sign and turned around. I thought they were also looking for a way to avoid the traffic...

Pont de St-Mathieu

#13 - Pont de St-Mathieu in St-Mathieu-du-Parc - September 19, 2009

We had planned on going to a birthday party today but it was canceled. It was a beautiful fall day so we decided to go for a ride in the same general area we would have gone anyway. So we packed the truck with some kids' clothes that I brought to a friend and a picnic lunch, then hooked up the tent trailer to bring to Serge's parents' barn for the winter and set out to visit 2 bridges.
I was VERY surprised when we got to the first one! I had read on Pascal's website that there was a rest area and I looked at the pictures on his site before going but the bridge on his site looked so old and like it was falling apart! There were boards missing and it needed a good coat of paint!!!
Apparently it was renovated sometime this year! It looks brand new! Actually, many parts of it ARE brand new!

Built in 1936, it is 88 feet long and crosses the Rivière Shawinigan. It was renovated during the summer of 2009, just before we went to visit! We had a nice picnic and went off to visit th enext bridge!

Pont du Lac Ha! Ha!

#12 - Pont du Lac Ha! Ha! in Ferland-et-Boileau - July 27, 2009

We went camping with Joan and Luc at Lake Ha! Ha! and brought Mommy with us. There is a covered bridge 5 minutes away! So on the day we left, after spending 3 full days of rain and packing the trailer in the rain, we drove off and the sun started shining when we got to the bridge!!! Good thing too! We were so tired of the rain that we wouldn't have taken our family photo if it was raining! We wouldn't even have gotten out of the truck!

Built in 1934 the bridge is 122 feet long and crosses la Rivière des Ha! Ha! This was the first covered bridge that we visited that was not either red or old wood grey. I read on Pascal's website that the wall of the covered bridge is not made of wood but corrugated sheet metal.

Pont John-Cook

#11 - Pont John-Cook in Cookshire - July 18, 2009

This bridge sits on the side of the new road, right beside the new bridge. It barely has water trickling under it! Built in 1868, it is 133 feet long and crosses the Ruisseau Lambert. It is now used as a rest stop. There are a few picnic tables inside and at the other end is a lovely path that brings us to the rushing waters of the river nearby. After having our picnic in Coaticook and visiting 2 other bridges, we stopped here for desert! Serge and I tried out our new tea kit, Serge needs his tea after lunch! We went for a little walk on the path, then went home. It was a long day but I enjoyed spending time with Serge and the kids, just doing "nothing". :0)

Pont McDermott

#10 - Pont McDermott in Cookshire - July 18, 2009

Detour!!! We set off to go to this bridge by the country roads. There is beautiful scenery around here! Rolling hills and cute little farmhouses...but when we turned onto the small road to the covered bridge we found a sign that says "bridge closed". We went past the signs to see if we could get closer to the bridge but soon discovered that it wasn't the covered bridge that was closed. They are repairing the bridge to get to the covered bridge. LOL So we turned around and took the detour to the other side. This was perfect! We got to visit without any risk of traffic! Built in 1886, it is 112 feet long and crosses the Rivière Eaton Nord.

We didn`t stay very long, we still had 1 more bridge to explore before heading home. :0)

Pont Rouge

#9 - Pont Rouge au Park de la Gorge de Coaticook - July 18, 2009

When Serge and I set off to pick Emily and Jeremy up from summer camp I was armed with a new list from Pascal's website! We picked them up and once again, to cut the long trip, we went to see this covered bridge and then found a picnic table close by. According to Pascal, this bridge is not authentic...it was built to replace one that was destroyed, but it now rests on a metal structure. The original was built in 1887 but it was destroyed in 1988. This bridge was built in 1997. It crosses the Rivière Coaticook. It is now the entrance to a campground.

It is not on the map and doesn't have a name plaque from the ministère du transport du Québec, but in my opinion, it's still a covered bridge! :0)

Les Ponts Couverts du Quebec

Up until this point, I had taken my information from the Quebec Ministry of Transportation website. Some of these bridges are even on the map we use.

http://www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca/portal/page/portal/grand_public/vehicules_promenade/reseau_routier/structures/ponts_couverts

Then we accidentally found the Drouin covered bridge and started wondering why it wasn't on the site. When I got home I went looking for more information on the Drouin bridge and this led me to Pascal's website that has many more bridges listed on it! It has the bridges that are still open to vehicles, lists the bridges that are closed, has a list of bridges that have disappeared over the years and even has a list of bridges that are private or are not quite authentic.

Here is his site:

http://web.me.com/pascal721/Pontscouverts/Accueil.html

I was surprised to read on his site that the Milby bridge that we visited the day before was closed. I sent him a little e-mail telling him that it was now open and also to let him know that the Powerscourt bridge was now closed for construction. He then used my pictures of the Milby bridge to tell the followers on his blog that it was now open!

I have since then exchanged several e-mails with Pascal as I keep him informed of the bridges we visit. :0)

Pont Drouin

#8 - Drouin in Compton-Station - July 12, 2009

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This bridge was a surprise! It doesn't appear on any of my maps or the Quebec ministry of transportation website. Serge and I just happened to see a sign on the side of the road, looked at each other and turned! It doesn't really have a road to go to it, it's in someone's yard but there was a sign that said "Welcome" so we stopped. Built in 1886, it is 98 feet long and crosses the Coaticook River. It was closed to traffic in the late 1970s. The road was swept away on one side and another bridge was built next to it. We could walk through it but on the other side there are rocks piled up and there is the river below them!

It is very pretty there and there are picnic tables all around and we wish we would have known about it so we could have our picnic here!

Pont de Milby

#7 - Pont de Milby in Waterville - July 12, 2009

Built in 1873, this bridge is 75 feet long and crosses the Moe River. Still on our trip to bring Emily and Jeremy to summer camp, this bridge was right off the road on the way. It was definitely the busiest covered bridge that we had been to! There is a campground right next to the bridge and it felt like our truck was just low enough to go through it so bigger campers and trailers have to use another way around! There was not much space to park so we could explore and we caused a little traffic jam when we parked the truck to the side of the road. We went in, took a few pictures but I had to get Kelly out of the way once for a car to pass, so we quickly took our family picture and left!