The superstructure (sides, roof) was placed on the bridge to protect the understructure (bridge bed) from the weather. Since the bridges were made of wood, this protection gave the bridge a longer service life. Actually, the EXACT reason for building covered bridges seems to have been lost in time, but the weather protection argument seems to be the most widely held. Other reasons offered have been to keep horses from being spooked by fast running rivers or as places travels could take shelter.
Covered bridges are classified by their truss design.
Longest covered bridge in the US: Cornish-Windsor Bridge Vermont/New Hampshire, constructed 1866, about 460 feet long.
Longest bridge in the world: Hartland Bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick, Canada. Constructed circa 1900, 1282 feet long.
Covered bridges are classified by their truss design.
Longest covered bridge in the US: Cornish-Windsor Bridge Vermont/New Hampshire, constructed 1866, about 460 feet long.
Longest bridge in the world: Hartland Bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick, Canada. Constructed circa 1900, 1282 feet long.
Width was usually based on who would use the bridge. For example if it was access to a local church, it probably only need to be wide enough for a buckboard. If a trade route, then a size useful to farming, say the width of a hay wagon, would have been appropriate.
- Bridges in Virginia
- Bridges in Delaware
- Bridges in Maryland
- Bridges in West Virginia
