Want to buy a bridge? And I'm not talking about the Brooklyn Bridge!

I was thumbing through my local paper's classfied ads a few days ago, and came across something that caught my eye: Historic Bridge Available.

That's right. Our Agency of Transportation here in Vermont (known as "VTrans") has a bridge it wants to sell you. Actually, they're not even selling it -- they'll give it to you free!

It's a "historically significant" 122 foot-long metal truss bridge across the White River in Stockbridge, Vermont (see photos below). Unfortunately, it needs to be replaced.

About ten years ago, VTrans completed a comprehensive study of which of Vermont's many historic bridges were worth preserving. It looked at factors such as the bridge's structural condition, hydraulics, traffic loads, historic significance, and cost.

Some bridges have been put to new use, often as bike and pedestrian facilties. Others remain in place for vehicular use. But still others -- such as Bridge No. 130 -- fall into the "documentation and demolition" category.

According to Catherine Quinn, a historic preservation specialist with VTrans, "we are required to make historic bridges that are slated for demolition available for reuse to a responsible entity, hence the advertisement in the newspaper for Bridge No. 130 in Stockbridge."

So far, none of the eight bridges advertised for sale by VTrans have found takers.

Why not? Even though there's no cost to purchase the bridge, Quinn believes that the cost of moving and then reassembling a bridge has turned out to be too high for those who have shown some initial interest. And in some cases, she adds, "people don't realize how big the bridge is until they go out and look at it."

But since VTrans only advertises its bridges within Vermont, we thought we'd try to help out by making our national audience aware of the availability of Bridge No. 130.

How would you like to bring a piece of Vermont to your community? Heck, they moved the much, much larger London Bridge to Arizona, this should be a piece of cake!

Interested? Contact Catherine Quinn of the Vermont Historic Bridge Program at: 802-828-3615; Catherine.Quinn@state.vt.us.