In the bucolic town of Brookfield, Vt., crews are finishing work on the world's first composite floating bridge. It is the eighth iteration of the original log bridge built in 1820, after a town resident fell through ice and drowned in what is now called Sunset Lake.
The 318-ft x 20-ft, single-lane Brookfield Bridge, which carries Vermont Route 65 across the lake, employs a fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) flotation system with a 100-year design life. Construction of the $2.4-million bridge began in April 2014 and is scheduled for completion by Memorial Day weekend.