The Parke Co. In. Covered bridges are Quite a site to see and have enjoyed this Festival many times, OH and BTW my Uncle fell off of the the bridge that they built over in Greenup, was while it was being built, and he being nosy,had to check out their work, found out at over 70 years old he didn't bounce as well as when he was younger. If it had been one of us young'ens he would told us how stupid we were:tb-wink:
They were also covered to protect the truss structure as well. As already stated, it extended the life of a wooden bridge many years. I believe it was a European concept.
BPACH asked, so here is the Chambers bridge in Cottage Grove, OR, which was built in 1925 as a railroad bridge. I'm bringing it in from my own site and it may be too big. If the image doesn't show I'll upload it to RI which will downsize it automatically.
Since that worked, here is the Wildcat Bridge, located near MP26 on highway 126 between Florence and Eugene, OR. It is SO off the beaten path it is very difficult to find as you can see by the forest around it. And one which was across Drift Creek near Lincoln City, OR. Since I took this, years ago, this one has been disassembled board by board and reassembled on private property, but can still be viewed off highway 18 between Lincoln City and Portland. Original one dates back to 1914.
I found a few photos. I haven't found the other roll of film, with the covered bridge that spans the Connecticut River just below Hanover. First is a bridge that is closed to vehicular traffic, and is only partially sheathed on the sides. Here's a second view from up on a hill. You could still drive across this one. This bridge was fully sheathed. Those are my daughters in about 1997.
Okay...I accept the argument that they were covered to keep the "weather" off of poorly protected wood. But I'd guess it was primarily the snow that prompted the covering, because they had comparable amounts of rain and sun in the southern states, as well as trees for supplying materials, but there seem to be far fewer covered wooden bridges in the lower half on the US. Maybe one of our European members can tell us about the prevalence of covered wooden bridges in the colder northern European countries versus the warmer southern countries. (IIRC, ages ago I saw pics of covered bridges in mountainous regions of Europe...or maybe it was snow sheds???). I wonder if there was an intention of providing shelter for travelers at night, as well? Seems that most covered bridges are in regions of the US where there was nasty winter weather but also where there were lots of travelers between cities, but the actual bridges were in thinly populated areas....Does anyone have pics showing covered bridges built in the middle of large towns or cities? And if they were for snow alone, then why weren't there many more in Canada?
Well, living in the UK I can certainly cast some light on this. I don't think they were snow sheds. In warmer climes it rains, then it suns and dries out the wood, so it doesn't rot all that fast. In colder climes the 'wet' season isn't that long. Once winter sets in it's frozen solid and the rot bugs (like most living things) pretty much stop running. In 'temperate' places like the UK and New England (and I'd think the PNE) it can be wet (or at least damp) and not particularly warm or cold for long periods of the year, giving plenty of time for the bugs and funghi to get their teeth into the wood. Lumber size may be a factor as well. Covered bridges usually have trusses that are made of many layers of fairly small criss-crossed timbers. This is an excellent way to trap moisture of course . So I'd hazard a guess that maybe the lumber in those areas was not readily available in the larger sizes that could be found in other parts of the US.
Dave- All those places, out in my region, which had covered RR bridges, were where there was significant rainfall, or snow. Heat, cold, dry, wet, dry, wet, is very hard on untreated wood. Most, if not all, were out in the country. Why? Well, they were on branch lines. Wood being cheaper, branches received lesser investments of capital. The main lines tended to have steel bridges instead, or were upgraded to steel. In order to carry heavier tonnage, and faster trains. Boxcab E50
