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Covered bridges

D

DeltaRed

Well-known Member
Just got to wondering...Any covered bridges left?Still in use?What was the purpose for covering them?Any pics?Thanks,Steve
 
Yep, last visit to Ohio we saw quite a few in use and a bunch they saved but are for foot traffic only now.
They were covered to keep the snow off the bridge, made for a safer trip across the river.
 
Theres one in downtown Elizabethton Tn. Its used for foot travel and bikes, but I remember driving through it when I was small with my grandparents. Sorry no pics though.
 
there are several in Park co. Ind east of Indy about 50 mi. they have festival and tour every year around the fall tree colr time.
 
Here in New England we still have quite a few. I read somewhere that they put a roof on them for two reasons. First to protect the bridge and also to give travelers shelter on a stormy night.
There are still a few people around that will repair or build you a covered bridge. Warning - that would be very expensive.
 
Drove across one in the Atlanta, Ga. area a couple years ago
a81064.jpg
 
There is one at West Montrose, Ontario. Don't know if they let cars over it any more. Haven't seen it myself for 40 years but I know it's still there.
 
DeltaRed,
Purpose for covered bridges: traffic jams and $, 10 day bridge fest early in Oct. Brings in 100's of thousands of people from all over not to mention yard sales up and down the road. Good eats too. Check out Park Co Covered Bridge fest, Indiana.
George
 
Here in Iowa we have the bridges in Madison county.Remember the movie with Clint Eastwood the bridges of Madison county,that is where it was filmed.Since then some one tried to burn one down but it was repaired.
 
The longest one in the world is near us here in Hartland NB and you can still drive over it. The reasons for covering up here included those listed plus they are usually tightly closed so horses would go over them easier.
 
Yeah Parke County Indiana, which is Rockville, my wife is from there, we bale hay there at my F-I-L's farm. Theres like 20 in the county, most are still in use. They have built newer concrete bridges next to some so that farm machinery and heavy trucks can still use the road. One burned down a few years back and they built a brand new covered bridge there, probably one of the few 2000's era wooden bridges in the country. I'd hate to think what the main beams cost in todays lumber prices! Also there are a few in Putnam County, which is Greencastle, Indiana the next county over.
 
(quoted from post at 11:39:07 09/01/12) Yeah Parke County Indiana, which is Rockville, my wife is from there, we bale hay there at my F-I-L's farm. Theres like 20 in the county, most are still in use....
Click to expand...

Me and my wife stopped there are toured them on our honeymoon. Worth spending a day there is you are into that kind of thing.
 
But you failed to mention that they weren't built for "traffic jams and money". They're still around because the county is very rural and has several creeks and rivers. Thus they had an abundance of bridges and a severe shortage on county highway money. So in the 70's someone made the observation that Parke county was one of the very few places in the entire country that still had many in use, let alone even 1 left. So the traffic jams and money may come once a year, but to say that having them is for a tourist trap is false. Its a function of county road funding and location that led to them being around 50 years after most were gone.
 
(quoted from post at 16:35:21 09/01/12) Here in Iowa we have the bridges in Madison county.Remember the movie with Clint Eastwood the bridges of Madison county,that is where it was filmed.Since then some one tried to burn one down but it was repaired.
Click to expand...

That's the Cedar Bridge and it is the only one still open to traffic.
 
Here's an Indiana one that was partially rebuilt, glad it was saved, just took these pictures 4 days ago. It's no longer used for traffic, the road goes by on a modern bridge, it's part of a nice park.
a81067.jpg

a81068.jpg
 
Several in Iowa. The reason given to me when asked the question about covering them was: It was cheaper to shingle the roof than replace the beams and deck boards on a wooden bridge as they are.
 
I live 1 mile south of Roseman Bridge in Madison county Iowa, 5 more still here. We draw people from all over the world at our covered Bridge fest I think it is the 2nd full weekend in October.
 
There still is one north of me, somewhere in Eagle Bridge or Buskirk, which is still a rural farming community, with a touch of NYC implants scattered around.
About 1 year ago, Hurricane-Tropical Storm Irene, ( we had another right after, hopefully that is correct) wiped out a covered bridge, links below.

They're like old barns, perhaps more interesting, but like both, you hate to see them destroyed.

I would have to think that there would be some salvage wood, maybe the main beams or what have you, though I'm not sure how one would determine that they were still structurally sound, being wood a natural material, but this 500 year event, wiped out quite a bit about 1 year ago, the storm came right up the pipe (hudson valley) and hit us dead on, 10"+ rain seemed more like 12" given what happened.
Bartonsville Bridge Taken Downstream

Bartonsville Bridge Remains
 
One of my wife's ancestors helped build the covered bridge in Philippi, WV. It still gets a lot of use, as it is part of US route 250 and it about at the end of Main Street for the town. It is the only covered bridge in the US highway system. It was built in 1852 and the first land battle of the Civil War was fought nearby. Amazing thing to me is that it was originally built as a two lane bridge.
 
I always heard they were covered so horses didnt get spooked crossing. Dont make a alot of sense though unless the sides were higher than a horse, which most i have seen are not.
There is a nice covered bridge in Frankenmuth MI but pretty sure its a "re-pop".
 
I live about 20 miles from the Bollinger mill at Burfordville bridge, There are about a dozen covered bridges in Missouri. The purpose of a covered bridge was dual. First it protected the bridge decking from the weather and also provided a shelter to travelers during showers,
 
There are a couple left in my area in SE IN.

Covered bridges were covered to protect the wooden structure from the sun and rain.

Dean
 
Not sure if there's a name. This is between Berne and Geneva, Ind. not far off U.S. 27- crossed the Wabash river-by a burg named Ceylon. Sad thing, some years ago someone set it on fire and I'm sure it was expensive to rebuild. It's fun being there and imagine the old days when horse drawn buggies escaped storms in bridges like these.
 
Thank you. I was wondering why I could not find it on the Indiana covered bridge site. One in Moscow, IN near Rushville is open again. Tornado destroyed it in 2008. Native timbers from southern Indiana were used to rebuild it. I think some of the original timbers were incorporated.
 
(quoted from post at 16:47:26 09/01/12) I always heard they were covered so horses didnt get spooked crossing. Dont make a alot of sense though unless the sides were higher than a horse, which most i have seen are not.
There is a nice covered bridge in Frankenmuth MI but pretty sure its a "re-pop".
Click to expand...

You are correct. The sides were to keep animals from being spooked.

Below is a link to the New England covered bridges.

http://www.discovernewengland.org/new-england-activities/covered-bridges/

This one is the longest in NH. Located in Haverhill and Bath. It's about 260 feet long and was built in 1829 for about $2400.

bob

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Ohio has quite a few.
I think Ashtabula county in the Northeast corner of the state has the most, but I don't remember the number offhand.

Myron
 
It also burned partly a few years ago in some gasoline fueling accident. They rebuilt the damaged siding and put it back in service. Smells like smoke inside now... Just drove across it last week. I let the car in front of me go all the way across before I drove across cause my truck is kinda heavy. Well the lady tailgating me in a big Ford diesel had no such problems and that bridge didn't flex an inch.

Beautiful structure.

Aaron
 
I don't have any pics but PA has a ton of them. They were very popular here and are still prevalent in most parts although most are historical and no longer in use
 
In Rockville Indiana,the second week of October they have a cover bridge festival.They have about 20 cover bridges, some you drive through .It"s about 35 miles west of Indy, on us 36 and us 41.
 
There are hundreds of them in the US, here is a list of them.

http://www.dalejtravis.com/cblist/cblistus.htm
 
There are two covered bridges left in North Carolina, neither are in use but are preserved for historical purposes. One, The Pisgah Covered bridge, is located in the county where I live. It was built in 1911, stood all those years until 2003 when an unexpected flood washed it away. Many people volunteered to help and 90% of the original bridge was recovered from the woods and stream. It was rebuilt and no one would know the difference. Today it is kept up by the N.C. Zoo Society and some other organizations. They have built a picnic area and a hiking trail. It is a very popular place for amateur photographers.
 
In Ashtabula County Ohio we still build them. We have the longest covered bridge, built in 2008 and the shortest (18ft.) built last year.
Check this out.

www.coveredbridgefestival.org
 
Don't think the animals cared one way or the another although I did have some pigs that wouldn't walk on ice.

Why is it there is a wooden covered bridge in "Downtown" Contoocook, NH that only serves the railroad?

I think it might have been easier to build the trusses on the temporarily supported bridge deck. The trusses were high enough so that a roof was added for weather protection of the structure. Leaky barns and houses don't last very long. Gotta wonder how long those wooden trestles out west lasted.
 
Minnesota's only remaining covered bridge from the 1800s is only a couple blocks from where I live.

http://bridgehunter.com/mn/goodhue/zumbrota/

Originally located one block to the East of its current location, it was moved about a mile in the early 1930s to the county fair grounds where it served as the building for the DNR displays. After about 40 years it was moved back to within a couple hundred yards of it's original location where a park was established with the bridge as the main attraction. In 1997 it was again relocated back across the river. To maintain structural integrity a steel frame was placed under the bridge and a center support was added that was not used originally. It is open to pedestrian traffic only.
 
Oregon has the most covered bridges of any state east of the Mississippi, 51 total. The roof and siding was put on to protect the trusses and roadbed from the weather. Rain here in Oregon. Many bridges were built without and rotted away quickly. There is one a few miles from me, not used for traffic anymore, in a small park along side the roadway....James

http://www.ritnercreekcoveredbridge.com/
 
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