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All Bermuda Somerset Bridge
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Somerset Bridge

The world's smallest drawbridge.

Bermuda

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World’s smallest bridge   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
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At 22 inches wide the Somerset Bridge is said to be the world’s smallest drawbridge. The bridge is just wide enough for the mast of a well-sailed sail boat to pass through, although the ship will have to either have an appointment or wait for a kind passer by to help out by lifting the gate.

Cranked open by hand in the past, the drawbridge is now two cantilevered half-spans, separated by a 18-inch gap connected by a wooden panel that needs to be removed by hand.

The bridge is nearly 400 years old (built 1620) and has been featured on a 2009 series of Bermudian five dollar banknotes. A few nearby buildings share the Somerset name, in homage to the tiny, manpowered bridge.

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In Sandys parish, connecting Somerset island with the mainland.

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Published

May 17, 2012

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  • http://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda_0000af.htm
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset_Bridge,_Bermuda

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Retro Tech Architectural Oddities Outsider Architecture World's Smallest Architecture
Somerset Bridge
Middle Rd
Bermuda
32.278549, -64.876685

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