Hunter Research, Inc. received a 2019 Preservation Achievement Award from the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance for the firm’s work on the “Restoration, Rehabilitation and Stewardship of the Stewartstown Bridge.” The Stewartstown Bridge, also known as the Beecher Falls Bridge, crosses the Connecticut River between New Hampshire and Vermont near the Canadian border. The steel deck arch bridge is a two-rib, two-hinge, spandrel-braced design. Erected in 1930-1931, the bridge is historically noteworthy as having received the American Institute of Steel Construction’s “Most Beautiful Steel Bridge Award,” adding to the reputation of its designing engineer Harold E. Langley as an expert in steel arch bridges. As a member of a New Hampshire Department of Transportation led team, Hunter Research supported the project through completion of a Phase I archaeology study and a historic structures report (HSR). The HSR was instrumental in providing historically based data to inform decisions guiding restoration and rehabilitation activities from selection of historically appropriate railings, which would meet current standards, to methods of repairing the riveted steel arch ribs. The project was completed with a finding of no adverse effect on the historic bridge. For more information on the project and the award click this link.