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Récemment, Transports Québec a restauré nombre de ponts couverts encore intégrés dans le service routier. En 2011, par exemple, le ministère a subventionné la restauration du pont d’Eustis. Comme l’indiquent les défenseurs du patrimoine, la meilleure façon de maintenir les ponts couverts en bon état est de continuer à les utiliser. |
There is no uniform conservation policy for municipally owned covered bridges no longer in use. But they have increasingly been promoted in tourism, spurring initiatives to maintain them. In the past, the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications has helped to restore decommissioned covered bridges. To be eligible for ministry assistance, a bridge must be classified as a provincial heritage monument. To obtain such classification is a long process, and official status does not guarantee funding. In recent years, the Quebec Ministry of Transport has made a concerted effort to overhaul covered bridges in service. In 2011, for example, the ministry subsidized the restoration of the Eustis Bridge. As heritage activists point out, keeping covered bridges in use is the best way to save them. |
Pont d'Eustis
Tout comme le pont d’Eustis, près de 70 ponts couverts sont toujours en service au Québec durant la saison estivale ou à l’année longue.
Like the Eustis Bridge, close to 70 of Quebec’s remaining covered bridges are in service seasonally or year-round.
Jambes de force
Des jambes de force sont utilisées à titre de support au pont d’Eustis comme c’est le cas ailleurs dans les Cantons-de-l’Est. Très solides elles sont en bois, souvent du mélèze, et proviennent des racines des arbres.
“Tree knees” were used as braces in the Eustis Bridge and in some other covered bridges in the Eastern Townships. They were very strong, made of wood—often tamarack—that had been cut where a tree’s root curved up into the trunk.
Pont d'Eustis
La majorité des jambes de force ont été préservées au cours de la restauration du pont d’Eustis. Cependant, plusieurs vieilles poutres ont dû être remplacées. De plus, des modifications de l’architecture ont permis de renforcer la structure du pont et sa longévité.
Most of the original “tree knee” braces were preserved during the restoration of the Eustis Bridge. But many of the old timbers had to be replaced. Some design modifications were made to strengthen the bridge and try to extend its longevity.