COVERED BRIDGES

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Its been said that , from NEw York State to Indiana, exist most of the covered bridges that still remain . In Pa we have the most of any state and most are still indaily use. Heres another, share yer pix thread, this one about covered bridges.

I love these anachronistic means of crossing a stream or river. They are generally 1.5 lanes wide because they were designed to be conveyances for horses and buggies. I think that , besides clipping pictures ofcovered bridges . SOme history of these structures may be learned by doing a little searching on the web.

A retired engineering accounting prof from Drexel University was one of the first "bridgers" to publish his own photos . He posted pix of all 165 + bridges in Pa in 1993 (That was some doing in those days).

I will start with the Pine Grove bridge that was designed to Span the Octoraro Creek in Lancaster County Pa. This bridge was refurbished in 2009-2010 and has recently reopened for travel.
PS, Aaron Burrs brother, Theodore conceived of and designed the first of the ARch structures that hold up longer covered bridges much like a suspension bridge "hangs" a bridge from the top. The Burr Arch, as it has been named, can be seen in this picture of the
bridge.

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@farmerman,

OOPS, timed out before I could edit and add the picture.

DAMN, the Burr arch isnt visible so I gotta schlep a picture of what a Burr arch looks like. One can see them on the walls of the bridge where the arch is the "keel" onto which the floor beams and joistes are hung

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@farmerman,

how about the longest covered bridge in the world in heartland , new brunswick ?

http://www.town.hartland.nb.ca/html/PostcardBridge.JPG

for full description see :

http://www.town.hartland.nb.ca/html/bridge.htm

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@farmerman,

Heres a Burr arch, or Burr ARch Truss. THis is a picture of the BAaumGartner Bridge in Berks County. In Pa Dutch Baumgartner is a woodsman, and was a family name in the "fancy Dutch" area of The Lehigh Berks areas.

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@hamburgboy,

Cool, How many covered bridges in Canada?

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@farmerman,

I'm going to guess there are 2 or 2 million covered bridges in Canada. Or something in between that figure. Razz

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A site with all the Canadian covered bridges. http://www.dalejtravis.com/bridge/bridgecn.htm

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Are there stamps of covered bridges? There are postcards of covered bridges, I thought. Is it sad that there might be covered bridges that do not have its own postcard?

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Here's a list of covered bridges in California. Click on the link in the first column to see a photo and details of each bridge. Many of them are in the Sierra gold country.

http://www.dalejtravis.com/cblist/cbca.htm

Here are a few of my favorites from the list:

http://www.dalejtravis.com/bridge/californ/jpg/05034d1.jpg

You have to take a look at the whole series of photos on this one.
http://www.dalejtravis.com/bridge/californ/htm/0502901.htm

Here's an appetizer:

http://www.dalejtravis.com/bridge/californ/jpg/0502901e.jpg

http://www.dalejtravis.com/bridge/californ/jpg/0502901d.jpg

Notice the fancy beam carvings on this one:

http://www.dalejtravis.com/bridge/californ/jpg/0501208a.jpg

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We dont got none so far as I know.

why do did they put a cover over them?

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@Butrflynet,

This website has similar lists with photos of covered bridges all over the US.

http://www.dalejtravis.com/bridge/cbridges.htm

They also have listing of Round Barns.

http://www.dalejtravis.com/barn/rbarns.htm

http://www.dalejtravis.com/images/rbarn.jpg

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@dadpad,

dadpad wrote:

We dont got none so far as I know.

why do did they put a cover over them?

snow

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http://www.freefoto.com/images/1218/01/1218_01_5---Covered-Bridge--Jackson--New-Hampshire--USA_web.jpg?&k=Covered+Bridge%2C+Jackson%2C+New+Hampshire%2C+USA

My personal favorite

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I crossed this one nearly every day in the summer going to and from the town pool.

http://www.virtualvermont.com/coveredbridges/creamery2.jpg

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@George,

Quote:

snow

Ah, that explains why we (in Oz) don't have them.
I was just about to ask the same question, till I saw dadpad had already asked.
They are pretty strange looking bridges, to the Oz eye.
But they're growing on me! Smile

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There are covered bridges as far west as Illinois and Iowa, and to my certain knowledge, some, at least, of them were in daily use as recently as the late 1970s. In Indiana, they have an annual covered bridge festival--which my experience of the event (held over an area of several counties) suggests is just another excuse to set up booths and sell more summer sausage and home-made bratwurst and knockwurst. These are endeavors of which i highly approve.

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@George,

George wrote:

dadpad wrote:
We dont got none so far as I know.

why do did they put a cover over them?

snow

Because you are aware of winter-time conditions, George, you're leaving out a part of the explanation which wouldn't necessarily occur to someone without experience of winter in North America.

Because there is an open space under the bridge, wind can move under it and rob it of what little heat there is. This means that bridges are an icing danger which is not the case with the roads which lead to the bridges--and especially not with the dirt roads or plank roads which existed in the heyday of covered bridges. So you cover a bridge to keep off the snow so that it doesn't turn to ice--which would be truly dangerous for a horse-drawn conveyance such as a buggy or a wagon.

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My dad built a log home on 19 acres in upstate NY - about an hour north of Saratoga Springs and just west of the Vermont border - just outside of the little village of Salem.
This is my favorite covered - bridge- it spans the Battenkill River. You can tube down the river in the summer - the bottom is rock, so you have to wear water shoes, but the water is clean and clear and moves at a good pace. You get a real work out if you walk back upstream in the water:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k46/aidan_010/coveredbridge2.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k46/aidan_010/rexleighcoveredbridge.jpg

It is stunning in the fall:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k46/aidan_010/NewYork_3.jpg

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Thank you george.
Thank you Set

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@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

. . . Because you are aware of winter-time conditions,
George . . .

When I drive from Stoneham (MA) to Montreal, I see a gazillion warning
signs that read "BRIDGES FREEZE BEFORE ROAD". By the time you cross the
border those letters are burned into your retina.

North of the border, you get signs with a graphic of a skidding car next
to a graphic of a thermometer registering 0°. I wonder if anyone's ever
driven into a river while working out the pictures?

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