Tuesday, April 10, 2012

New England Nuances

New Englanders like to think they are unique with their many covered bridges, and Vermont and New Hampshire have the most covered bridges per square mile, but Pennsylvania actually has more covered bridges than any other state.  (Of course, Pennsylvania is much bigger than either New Hampshire or Vermont.)  Most covered bridges from the 1800s were made of wood as that was the most readily available material.  And a covered bridge, which protects the bridge's underpinnings, lasted three or four times longer than a noncovered bridge. 

Source:  Wikipedia

Their historic value is not due to their age, but their construction and most covered bridges have a truss design utilizing one or more triangular units.  Simple King's post (with a central vertical supporting post) or Queen's post (two central vertical supporting posts) are common in earlier New England bridges but other truss designs were used later.

Example of a truss bridge  Source:  Wikipedia

The longest covered bridge in New Hampshire which spans the Connecticut River is a lattice truss design.

Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge   Source:  Wikipedia

Most covered bridges are on the National Register of Historic Places.  But no matter the construction or age, covered bridges are just plain picturesque and real crowd pleasers.  Tourists come to see the covered bridges along with the fall foliage in New England. From these photos maybe you can see why.

Chamberlin Mill, Lyndon, VT  Source:  Wikipedia

Columbia bridge between Columbia, NH and Lemington, VT
Source:  Wikipedia

Mill Bridge, Belvedere, VT  Source:  Wikipedia

Stark Bridge, Stark, NH   Source:  Wikipedia

Swift River bridge, Conway, NH  Source:  Wikipedia

Upper Cox Brook bridge, Northfield, VT  Source:  Wikipedia

You can click on any of the Wikipedia links to learn more.

3 comments:

  1. Have you been watching Bridges of Madison County instead of Animal Planet? But you left out your "home" state of Iowa, so probably not. ;)

    Covered bridges are so cool. That first photo could almost be the same photo that I took of Livingston Manor Covered Bridge in Rockland, New York in the Catskills in this blog post of mine:
    http://www.rickandlynne.com/lynne/index.php/lynne/a_more_palatable_diet/

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  2. Hard to tell what my "home" state is. Colorado is actually where I was born! Did not remember your post - I think I like YOUR photo better!

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  3. I thought you were born in Iowa, or if not spent the better part of your early years there. Maybe I remember wrongly. I still think the photos are nearly identical. Very weird!

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