Brochures, celebrations promote covered bridge conservation in New Brunswick

New Brunswick is home to 58 covered bridges, but where are they? Ray Boucher, president of the Covered Bridges Conservation Association of New Brunswick, has New Brunswickers "covered."

He posed an idea to the association about creating a brochure that identifies where different covered bridges are, along with historical information about them and a list where people can check off which ones they've visited.

To start, they worked on brochures for Charlotte County and Albert County, using photos Boucher took.

New Brunswick is the only province in Atlantic Canada with covered bridges and Boucher, of Riverview, thinks they can be a big tourist draw.

He was born in New Brunswick but raised on the west coast, so it wasn't until Boucher visited his wife's farm that he saw his first covered bridge.

"It opened a love affair for me with those bridges because of the way they were built and where they're located as well," he said.

"I just started my photography with an old [Kodak] Brownie camera."

When he got a "more sophisticated" camera, he decided to photograph all of New Brunswick's covered bridges. He finished his tour in 2018.

How the 'love affair' started

Boucher said when he first saw the covered bridge on the way to his wife's farm, he wondered why there was a barn in the middle of the road.

When he realized it was a covered bridge, he decided to return for a closer look.

He spent more than an hour inspecting that bridge.

"What's amazing is that these bridges were built by people who were not necessarily top notch engineers," said Boucher.

He said covered bridges were built without the help of heavy machinery and most were built using horse and buggy or maybe a tractor.

Covered bridges are also known as "kissing bridges," according to Boucher.

"You used to drive across those in a horse and buggy, you'd stop halfway through and steal a kiss or two."

The beginning of the association

Boucher said he's "partially guilty" for the creation of the Covered Bridges Conservation Association of New Brunswick.

After the loss of the French Village covered bridge, he said someone told him to see if others felt the same way about covered bridges because they didn't want to lose anymore.

Boucher said around 100 people from all across the province showed up at the first meeting.

Their Facebook group even extends to Africa, the United States and other parts of Canada.

Tourism impact

Kellie Blue, executive director of the Association Heritage New Brunswick, said covered bridges are important to the tourism industry. Since they're located "off the beaten path," she said they give tourists a reason to get off the highway and spend time in rural areas.

"Every time a visitor stops in one of our communities, they often spend a few dollars, whether it is at a local gift shop, local diner or at the gas station," she said.

While they're in a particular community, they might hear of other things to do along the way, such as visit a heritage site, festival or art show, she added.

Mark Taylor, from New Brunswick's Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, said covered bridges are important to the tourism industry.

He said when tourists come to New Brunswick, many of them are looking to experience covered bridges.

History of covered bridges

The first New Brunswick covered bridge opened in 1901, but it wasn't covered — yet.

The Hartland bridge deteriorated over time, with people calling for it to be covered for its conservation. It was covered in 1921-22 and earned the title of the longest covered bridge in the world.

The bridge, which was also named a national historic site in 1980, still holds this title.

Around 60 years ago, New Brunswick had 340 covered bridges. But arson, natural aging and other causes contributed to the loss of most of those structures.

Today, there are 58 covered bridges in the province.

Conservation and restoration

Blue said as covered bridges declined due to vandalism, neglect or flooding, Association Heritage New Brunswick was worried the structures would disappear completely.

She said with different communities around New Brunswick celebrating events related to covered bridges, more people are becoming aware of the importance of saving them.

Speaking with a local MLA is one way to advocate for the conservation of covered bridges, said Blue.

She said this type of advocacy can catch the attention of political figures. For example, Blue said when the Vaughan Creek covered bridge in St. Martins was forced to close in 2017 due to advanced deterioration, the community rallied and met with various groups. Now, there is a replacement project to construct a wooden, two-lane covered bridge in the same spot.

According to Alycia Bartlett from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, the project is set to be completed later this summer.

Covered bridges celebration

As for Boucher's brochures where people can detail their experience with a covered bridge, Blue received some in the mail.

"I thought, 'What a great idea as far as how to get people to travel around the province, especially in the Charlotte County area and the Albert County area, where we seem to have a cluster of covered bridges,'" she said.

Association Heritage New Brunswick also promotes the preservation and restoration of covered bridges.

Blue said the organization hosted their fifth annual Love Your Covered Bridges Days July 30 to Aug. 1, with events across the province.

The association also holds a contest where people can submit a photo of themselves with a covered bridge to get entered into a prize draw.

She said brochures and celebrations help educate communities on what New Brunswick has to offer. She used to work at a provincial information centre in Woodstock and got to see this firsthand.

"It often struck me [that] people don't know what's in their own backyard, let alone tourists that are coming into the province."