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The Covered Bridge
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. The Mood's
Bridge, featured on these pages, was destroyed by fire in June 2004. |
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Sometimes referred to as the Sergeantsville Bridge, crossing the shallow Wickecheoke Creek, 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. |
| For more covered bridges, click on the following pages: Covered 1, Covered 2, Covered 3, Covered 4 |
| All text and images copyright (c) Steven M. Richman 2000-2004. All rights reserved. |