For nearly 160 years, the historic Blenheim Bridge, spanning the Schoharie Creek, stood proudly as the world's longest covered bridge. People came from miles around to view and photograph, this incredible engineering achievement.

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Matthew T. Bradley via flickr

At 210 feet in length, it withstood floods, hard-bitten winters and even a few horse and buggy accidents to remain one of Schoharie County's everlasting landmarks. It opened in 1855 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.

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Derek Gervasio via flickr

On August 28, 2011, however, the sturdy old bridge was no match for Tropical Storm Irene. The storm wreaked havoc throughout Upstate New York, bringing record flood levels and leaving death and destruction in its wake. On the night of August 28, 2011, and with the raging Schoharie Creek roaring along underneath the bridge at a historic level, the old covered bridge succumbed to Mother Nature's fury. The bridge collapsed into the torrent below and pieces of it were scattered in the fields, farmlands and woods for more than 30 miles down river.

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The little hamlet of Blenheim, population of about 200 people, rallied to get their bridge back. After several years of wrangling and consulting with state and federal agencies, the rebirth of the Blenheim Bridge began early in 2017.

When completed the new bridge is planned to be 15 feet higher than the original one. Some pieces of the old bridge that were discovered along the river bank and are now being used in construction of the new bridge and possibly will be used as part of a memorial to the original bridge.

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Negotiations settled on a split between two entity's for sharing the cost of the new bridge, about $6.7 million. FEMA will cover about 75 percent of the cost, and New York State will pay the rest.

It is a remarkable comeback for one of Upstate's true, historic landmarks. While there is still much work to be done, here are some photos from a recent visit to see the bridge's progress.

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The photo above shows a piece of the original bridge, which was found downstream and labeled.

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Read more: 12 of the most beautiful covered bridges in Upstate NY

There is nothing quite as special as driving along a country road and coming upon and old covered bridge spanning a bubbling stream. Upstate New York has 29 venerable covered bridges, and here are a dozen of the best.