Jerry Brown signed budget legislation that included $1.3 million for the bridge's restoration.

The covered bridge was part of the Virginia Turnpike Company toll road that served the northern mines and the Nevada Comstock Lode.

Utilizing a unique combination truss and arch construction, Bridgeport Covered Bridge is one of the oldest housed spans in the western United States and the longest single span wooden covered bridge in the world.

Steamboats carried freight Archived 2014-09-02 at the Wayback Machine from the San Francisco Bay up the Sacramento River to Marysville, where it was loaded onto wagons for the trip across the Sierra Nevada via the Virginia Turnpike[permanent dead link‍], and Henness Pass Road.

The route across the bridge was ultimately eclipsed by the completion of the First transcontinental railroad as far as Reno in 1868 via Donner Pass, but it continued to serve nearby communities in the foothills until improved roads and bridges on other routes drew away most of the traffic.