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(Continued from page 161) Section number 8 Page 2 ________________________________________________________________________ Newfield Covered Bridge Tompkins County, NY Statement of Significance (continued) During the Colonial period, the first timber bridges incorporated the Kingpost or the Queenpost truss configuration. These simple, open structures with plank decks were widely erected across small streams, though their use was limited to clear spans under fifty feet in length. Longer crossings were possible using multiple spans supported by mid-stream piers or timber cribbing. The open timber truss bridge remained an inexpensive and popular form for farm bridges and crossings on minor roads until the early twentieth century, when it was supplanted by the metal span. The open trusswork was sometimes sheathed with protective weather boards to preserve the life of the truss. Because of its horizontal top chord, it was possible to cover a Queenpost truss bridge with a protective roof. The Copeland Covered Bridge (1879), a farmer's bridge in rural Saratoga County, is an extant example of a covered Queenpost truss bridge remaining in New York. From the early decades of the nineteenth century, the cost of building and maintaining timber bridges generally fell upon local governments or state-chartered bridge or turnpike companies, which were established as for-profit ventures. It soon became evident that protecting the bridge's structural system from the elements would reduce the burden of maintenance and replacement costs. This protection was most readily achieved by covering the timber truss bridge with a roof and board sheathing to enclose the frame structure. During the Federal period, inventor Theodore Burr designed a highly successful long-span bridge form that combined the structural advantages of a simple timber truss with a relieving arch. Burr patented his timber truss design in 1817. His first successful bridge was a four-span structure erected across the Hudson River at Waterford, New York in 1804. Built of hand-hewn pine structural members, the Waterford bridge was sheathed with pine plank siding and covered by a shingled roof. Burr's bridge stood for more than a century until it was destroyed by fire in 1909. The Burr arch truss is represented in New York by two extant historic covered bridges currently listed in the State and National Registers: Perrine's Bridge (1844), Ulster County and Salisbury Center Covered Bridge (1875), Herkimer County. A successful truss design nearly contemporary with the Burr truss was the Town lattice truss, patented in 1820 by the versatile builder/architect Ithiel Town (1784-1844). Consisting of a horizontal top and bottom chord connected by a web of closely spaced, alternating diagonal timbers, the Town lattice truss included no vertical members; the required stiffness was achieved by connecting the intersecting diagonals with wood pins. Carried on piers placed at intervals, bridges incorporating the Town lattice truss could span considerable distances. Its inherent strength coupled with its ease of construction made the Town truss design a popular design for highway and early railroad bridges until the post-Civil war era. Listed in the registers in 1979, the covered bridges at Eagleville and Shushan, Washington County, are notable examples of the Town truss form. United States Department of the Interior National Parks Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 3 ________________________________________________________________________ Newfield Covered Bridge Tompkins County, NY Statement of Significance (continued) During the 1830's, Colonel Stephen H. Long of the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers perfected a rigid timber truss form that incorporated panels consisting of intersecting diagonals and counters. Long's initial patented design of 1830 for an "assisted truss" included a redundant Kingpost relieving truss above the center panel points (where the greatest flex would occur). With practical experience, Long refined his design to eliminate its "overbuilt" characteristics, receiving additional patents in 1836 and 1839. The Old Blenheim Bridge (1855), Schoharie County (National Historic Landmark, 1964; National Civil Engineering Landmark), is a notable example of the Long truss design. The final major timber truss design to achieve widespread popularity during the late nineteenth century was first patented in 1840 by William Howe (1803-1852). The Howe truss consisted of horizontal timber top and bottom chords and diagonal wood compression members combined with vertical tension members made of wrought iron. The ends of the iron tensions rods were threaded and secured to iron shoes at the panel points of the web. The inherent properties of wood and iron as construction materials were effectively used in Howe's truss; this hybrid truss became the most widely constructed, standard American timber bridge form of the nineteenth century. The Rexleigh (1874) and Buskirk (1850) Covered Bridges in Washington County and the Jay Covered Bridge (1857), Essex County, are Howe truss structures listed in the State and National Registers. By the third quarter of the nineteenth century, the covered timber truss bridge was being supplanted by the manufactured metal truss bridge on the roads and rail lines of New York State. Stimulated by wartime growth and development, iron manufacturers turned to production of standardized metal bridge components in the post-Civil War era. The increased strength, ease of construction and reduced cost associated with metal bridges won favor among local governments and railroad companies; by the 1880's, the heyday of wooden bridge-building had passed. Although several examples of covered timber truss spans remain from the early twentieth century in rural areas of New York, the advantages of iron bridges were clearly understood and widely applied well before 1900. The limited set of covered timber bridges that remains in the rural regions of New York State collectively represent a vanishing structure type built using obsolete technology. Because of their increasing rarity and vulnerability, those examples that remain are eminently worthy of preservation. United States Department of the Interior National Parks Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 4 ________________________________________________________________________ Newfield Covered Bridge Tompkins County, NY Statement of Significance (continued) (Continued on page 163) |