question of whether wood construction was cheaper than concrete and steel? And can we be sure that tourism was not a major factor in a county which features its covered bridges in an annual festival?
Building “covered” bridges for reasons of nostalgia or ambiance, especially with tourists in mind, would seem to exclude them based on the question of intention. This criterion makes it difficult to accept most of the new bridges, many of which might fail on other criteria as well. For example, the covered steel truss bridge in Ohio’s Mohican State Park, built for atmosphere rather than function, fails on several counts, including date, material, and intention. But can we be sure of the intention for (re)building Madison County, Iowa’s Cedar/Casper Bridge, whose original was burned by arsonists in 2002? When the county cloned the bridge in 2004 using its original plans, was it because this was the best solution for crossing Cedar Creek or because Madison County wished to maintain all examples of its greatest tourist draw—its covered bridges—based on the success of Robert James Waller’s novel, The Bridges of Madison County, and the movie of the same name?
Constructed in 1966 and the fourth bridge at this site since 1890, Lane County, Oregon’s Belknap Bridge spans the scenic McKenzie River. Although a typical Oregon Howe truss crossing, its late date of construction is slightly past the years when such covered bridges were still normal in Oregon, and Lane County’s reputation for bridges likely influenced the decision on replacement after its predecessor flooded out in 1964. (A. Chester Ong, 2012)
Meryl Streep, a war bride named Francesca Johnson, and Clint Eastwood, a National Geographic photographer named Robert Kinkaid, with Madison County, Iowa’s Roseman Bridge. The 1995 film The Bridges of Madison County was adapted from Iowa author Robert James Waller’s 1992 novel of the same name. For the film, county officials agreed to “age” the bridge to make it appear more rustic than its modern upkeep did. A Broadway musical based on the story will open in 2014. (Warner Brothers)
We could ask, what is the purpose for list making, such as the World Guide? What do readers (including those of this book) want to know? If the purpose is to list and discuss every known covered bridge in the land regardless of its attributes, multiple volumes might be required. If the list’s purpose is to identify only the strictly historical bridges, then it will be a rather slender volume. Would readers like to know about clones such as Kentucky’s Bennett Mill Bridge and the out-of-whole-cloth Town lattice State Road Bridge in Ohio’s Ashtabula County? Should they also know about the same county’s newest bridge, the gigantic Smolen-Gulf Bridge? I think most do. Further, should they know about Parke County, Indiana’s newly rebuilt Bridgeton Bridge whose burned original was central to the county’s covered bridge festival?
Built in 1858 over the Battenkill by Ephraim Clapp, the Eagleville Bridge in Washington County, New York, had to be restored in 1977 after suffering severe damage in a flood. (A. Chester Ong, 2010)
Crossing the Wallkill River just east of I-87 in Ulster County, New York, Perrine’s Bridge was originally built c. 1844–50 by Benjamin Wood using the Burr truss. After being closed in 1930, the bridge deteriorated until becoming dangerous in the early 1960s when restoration began. (A. Chester Ong, 2012)
Ultimately, it is up to the editors of publications listing covered bridges to set standards for inclusion. The World Guide is more problematic in that changes in policy could wreak havoc on each edition if new editors make major changes such as including or excluding all those “fake” bridges we love to hate. Designating a bridge with an official number (state-county-bridge) lends it legitimacy. Once a number has been assigned to a bridge, you cannot eliminate that listing or replace it without creating a certain amount of chaos.
We favor distinguishing “classic” historical bridges from those which are less so. But we also recognize that a full discussion of the covered bridge in America (including Canada) cannot take place without the inclusion of bridges that have been modified or even reconstructed. In many cases, the World Guide adds #2 to the bridge’s number. Indeed, let that be the thread that unifies the narrative: our changing perspectives on the covered bridge.
Eberly’s Mill Bridge, built in 1846 of Burr truss construction, is typical of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Though retaining a high density of Amish who continue using their horse-drawn buggies, as seen here, the county’s spectacular growth has altered its countryside from rural to suburban, forcing the Amish to live within urban development and congestion. (A. Chester Ong, 2011)
This three-span Howe truss deck railroad bridge crossed the Allegheny River at Foxburg on the western edge of Clarion County, which is north of Pittsburgh. Approached on both banks by long, curving trestles, the upper deck carried trains and the inside deck appears to have carried wagons, while a pedestrian walkway runs outside the trusses. Such structures came about in response to America’s growing industrialization. (Smithsonian Institution)
The last remaining covered canal aqueduct in the United States, Metamora, Indiana’s Duck Creek Aqueduct, was built in 1847 to replace an 1842 predecessor destroyed in a flood. Sixty feet long and of Burr truss construction, it carried the Whitewater Canal over Duck Creek for only a brief period. The 76-mile-long canal, built between 1836 and 1847, was so heavily damaged again by flooding in 1847 that little of it remained open. After falling into disrepair, the state restored the bridge in 1946, and today it carries tourists seeing the village of Metamora from a newly built canal boat. (A. Chester Ong, 2011)
The Juniata Division of the Pennsylvania Canal—actually a system—was opened in 1832. Starting from Duncan’s Island on the Susquehanna River, the canal crossed the Juniata River through a 600-foot multi-span Burr truss-covered aqueduct with interior towpaths. This canal branch, with 86 locks and 25 aqueducts, never made a profit, and the right of way was eventually sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad. (Pennsylvania Canal Society)
Built in 1838 by John Hough to cross the Scioto River, the Circleville Aqueduct was the longest covered aqueduct on the Ohio and Erie Canal. After the canal ceased operation in 1878, the bridge served as an ice skating rink in the winter and as a dance hall at other times until it burned under mysterious circumstances in 1915. (Miriam Wood Collection)
Bridge Basics
Covered bridges are essentially wooden (or mostly wooden) trusses that carry a roadway over a body of water. While most such bridges today carry (or carried in the past) vehicular traffic, many similar bridges also carried railroads. Less common were aqueducts designed to carry a canal and canal boats.
When the roadway passes between trusses whose base is level with the roadway, engineers call this a “through” bridge. When the roadway passes above the trusses, engineers call this a “deck” bridge. Because covered bridges by definition have a roof, all covered bridges are “through” bridges, but a great many wooden through truss bridges, especially those built for railroads, were left uncovered. Deck bridges could be covered in that the sides were protected with siding, but just as many were
