Bascule Bridges in the NH Region

List of Bascule Bridges, North to South

While New Hampshire has the shortest coastline of any coastal state, it has two great estuaries – the Great Bay and Hampton River. In the 18th century, area rivers and the Great Bay became barriers to travel and trade between the Seacoast and newly settled inland towns. Movable bridges at key crossings facilitated the movement of people and goods along New Hampshire's roads and waterways.

Between 1773 and 1949, eleven bascule bridges were constructed in the state. Seven of the state's bascule bridges were toll bridges at one time, as private companies and state and local governments sought ways to finance the new infrastructures. Changes in patterns of trade, as well as engineering advances in bridge designs and high maintenance costs, have made movable bridges unnecessary or prohibitive in some locations, and are therefore less abundant.

You can read all about the history of these bridges in the NH Department of Transportation's 60 page booklet
Historic Movable Bridges of NH - click here (opens in a separate browser tab).

Click a name in the list on the left to see info about that bridge on the right.
Click the top entry (or refresh the page) to see the map again

Map of Bridges

Eliot Bridge (1878-1942)

Colonel Alexander Scammell Memorial Bridge (1935-1998)

Piscataqua Bridge (1794-1895)

Portsmouth Bridge (1822-c.1924)

New Castle Bridge (1822-1942)

Eastern Railroad Bridge (1842-1939)

Wentworth Bridge (1878-1942)

New Castle-Rye Bridge (1942-in service)

Stratham-Newmarket Bridges (1773-1926)

Mile-Long Bridge (1902-1949)

Neil R. Underwood Memorial Bridge (1949-2026)