Covered bridges are in essence truss beam bridges with a covering to help protect the truss and prevent extra weight, such as snow, from exerting pressure on the deck.  The primary purpose of covering the deck and trusses is to shield the bridge from snow and rain, and thereby stave off decay and rot.  Most of America's covered bridges were built between 1825 and 1875, although the first one is credit to Timothy Palmer as the "Permanent Bridge," built in 1805 across the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania.  This is a sampling of bridges from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Vermont. 

Sometimes referred to as the Sergeantsville Bridge (left), crossing the shallow Wickecheoke Creek near Stockton and Lambertville, New Jersey, this is the only surviving pre-1900 covered wooden truss bridge in New Jersey.  Originally built in 1866 as a queen-post truss, it was modified into a Howe truss in 1872.   It utilized piers  that supported a bridge on the site dating to 1750.  Sergeantsville was once known as "Skunktown" allegedly because of a local trade in skunk pelts.        

Mood's Bridge (right) in East Rockhill, Pennsylvania, was destroyed by fire in June 2004. 











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