By Katelyn Krumperman
“It sounded like an earthquake,” said Meg White, assistant manager of the Loon Mountain Adventure Center, who lives at The Village of Loon condos. “It woke me out of bed.”
At 6am Wednesday morning, August 31, 2011, a section of the main bridge to Loon Mountain collapsed. Some remember Gloria … now they’ll remember Irene. Hurricane Irene dumped up to 10″ of rain over the area on Sunday, causing the East Branch of the Pemi River to flood, undermining the bridge abutments and closing Route 112/The Kancamagus Highway east of the Resort.
Thankfully no one was hurt when the bridge collapsed on Wednesday morning. The bridge had been closed on Sunday by the NH Department of Transportation (NHDOT). Engineers were here Wednesday to look at the bridge, assess the damage, and to put a plan in place. An excavator was here during the day redirecting the flow of water under the bridge which was the first step of business.
Despite damage to the main bridge, Loon Mountain is open with all of our summer and fall activities. You can access Loon Mountain via the South Peak Resort bridge, located in downtown Lincoln. The 36th Annual New Hampshire Highland Games will take place as planned, Sept. 16-18.
So do us a favor and tell your friends to come up to the White Mountains this Labor Day Weekend and enjoy its beauty. We are OPEN!
For latest updates on the bridge collapse, please visit http://www.loonmtn.com/info/winter/PressDetails.aspx?page=/collagepages/Press/11_12_Bridge-Update-.aspx.xml
