The 1840 Silk Covered Bridge is a covered bridge, carrying the Silk Road across the Walloomsac River between downtown Bennington, and the village of North Bennington, in Bennington County, Vermont. This Town lattice truss bridge is one of three covered bridges across the river in fairly close proximity.

The bridge has a relatively rural setting and is oriented north-south across the west-flowing Walloomsac River. Its northern abutment is an original stone slab, which has been faced in concrete, while the southern abutment is a reconstructed concrete structure. The bridge is 88 feet long, with a single-lane roadway 15 feet wide. It has a posted load limit of 8 tons. The sides of the bridge are clad in vertical boards, as are the insides of the portals, while the outside portal ends are finished in flush horizontal boards. In the center part of the bridge, the boards do not rise to the full height of the truss.

The bridge was built by Benjamin Sears, who was from a family of well-known bridge builders in the region. The family is also credited with the construction of the Paper Mill Village Bridge (1889), downriver a short way from this bridge; the Burt Henry Covered Bridge is also nearby, the three bridges all on a 2-mile stretch of the river.

On August 28, 2011, the Silk Bridge was damaged by floodwaters as a result of Hurricane Irene. The bridge was repaired and reopened afterward.

Of the over 500 covered bridges that were built in the state of Vermont, as of 2019, only 104 remain.

Length of largest span: 75.1 ft.
Total length: 86 ft.
Deck width: 13.8 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 10.6 ft.

Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on August 28, 1973.

Located at:  N42 54.564    W73 13.521     -     WGCB #45-02-04 

Photographed in July of 2019.