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    Oregon's Covered Bridges
    Oregon's Covered Bridges
    Oregon's Covered Bridges
    Ebook166 pages41 minutes

    Oregon's Covered Bridges

    By Bill Cockrell

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    About this ebook

    Rugged individuals armed with hand tools, sweat, and ambition began building covered bridges in Oregon during the mid-1850s. These bridge builders often camped out at remote sites, living off the land or contracting with local farmers for food. Early owners of covered bridges financed construction by charging tolls 3 for a sheep, 5 for a horse and rider, and 10 for a team of horses and wagon. In the early 20th century, the state provided standard bridge and truss designs to each county, and most of the resulting structures incorporated the Howe truss. With the abundance of Douglas fir and the shortage of steel during the world wars, the construction of wooden covered bridges continued well into the 1950s, mainly in the Willamette Valley. During the 1920s, Oregon boasted more than 350 covered bridges.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateMay 26, 2008
    ISBN9781439636343
    Oregon's Covered Bridges
    Author

    Bill Cockrell

    Photographer and historian Bill Cockrell has researched more than 600 historic covered bridge sites in the state. Cockrell cofounded the Covered Bridge Society of Oregon in 1978. He is the president of the society and has been the editor of the quarterly magazine the Bridge Tender for 25 years. Cockrell and his brother have written two Oregon covered bridge books. His photographic work is included in various magazines and newspapers, and on postcards.

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      Book preview

      Oregon's Covered Bridges - Bill Cockrell

      book.

      INTRODUCTION

      These narratives and photographs tell how early bridge builders struggled to overcome the frontier environment in Oregon. More than 600 covered bridge sites once dotted the state’s landscape. Today only 50 of these wooden structures exist.

      Early builders used the Smith truss, one imported from the states east of the Mississippi River. No covered bridge remains in Oregon today of this type. Later the Howe truss soon became the mechanism for most of Oregon’s covered bridges. The 1915 Oregon legislature enacted a law requiring all bridges costing $500 or more to be built under the supervision of the Oregon State Highway Department. The department soon developed standard Howe truss plans for counties to use. Today all but a few covered bridges use this truss. The Howe truss is one of the easiest for unskilled workers to assemble, as it is a series of Xs with vertical iron rods. The queenpost and kingpost trusses were widely used as well, especially on shorter covered spans. One kingpost truss covered bridge, Neal Lane Bridge in Douglas County, exists today and only three queenpost truss bridges span streams in the state.

      In the 1940s and 1950s, counties often considered covered bridges as impediments to modern vehicular traffic, and so many were replaced. Loaded logging trucks needed bridges with no height restrictions. Many examples of this practice are evident in photographs of splintered portal boards. Ironically, counties continued to build covered bridges into the 1950s and even into the 1960s. The abundance of Douglas fir timber helped convince counties to use this material for bridge construction.

      Folklore often colors the reason for covering a bridge. Some people say it was to keep anglers dry, while some say it was to trick horses into thinking the bridge was actually a barn, so they would enter freely. Some even think builders hid their shoddy workmanship with the covering. The actual reason for the covered bridge was to protect the truss from moisture. The uncovered bridge might last eight or nine years, but a covered bridge could last several times that long. The act of constructing sides and a roof was therefore an economic decision.

      The future of covered bridges in Oregon seems secure. Counties recognize the emotional appeal these structures evoke. And tourism provides a monetary reason to maintain covered bridges.

      At one time, five covered bridges spanned Thomas Creek in Linn County. Pictured here is the Jordan Bridge, about eight miles east of Scio. This 1946 photograph shows the structure with a rounded portal and open sides, the standard design adopted by Linn County during the 1930s and 1940s. The Jordan Bridge was dismantled in 1985 and moved to Stayton in Marion County, where it was reconstructed in a city park. It burned in 1994 but was rebuilt by volunteers in 1998. (Courtesy Salem Public Library Historic Photograph Collection.)

      One

      BENTON COUNTY

      The Flynn Bridge was one of many covered spans designed by the state yet built by the county. In this case, the Benton County bridge crew constructed it in 1922 at a cost of $8,819.43. One of a half-dozen covered bridges to span Marys River, the little Flynn Bridge lasted only until 1948, when it was replaced with a concrete span. Benton County lay midway between the capital city of Salem and the Pacific Ocean. As the population increased, public influence caused the county to take title to the roads and bridges. Benton County financed the maintenance and rebuilding of its bridges, which spanned streams such as Marys River, Alsea River, Long Tom River, and the Luckiamute River. Today only Hayden Bridge, Irish Bend Bridge, and Harris Bridge greet visitors. (Courtesy ODOT.)

      A sign commonly seen on heavily traveled roads is Impaired Clearance. At Benton County’s Mill Creek Bridge near Alsea, the vertical clearance at the centerline was just 15 feet. This bridge spanned Mill Creek from 1924 until its replacement in 1953. At that time, it was the last covered bridge on the state’s primary road system. (Courtesy ODOT.)

      Noon Bridge, pictured here in the 1940s, shows a rounded portal opening. Due to larger truck and bus traffic, the state expanded the openings at each end several years after construction. Benton County workers built the 120-foot Howe truss bridge in 1924. It spanned Marys River between Wren and Philomath until its replacement in the mid-1940s. (Courtesy ODOT.)

      Benton County workers constructed this state-designed bridge in 1922 at a cost of $4,066.22. The 75-foot Howe truss structure spanned Marys River three-quarters of a mile north of Wren on the Wren-Kings Valley Highway. For additional lighting, the county installed windows along each side. The bridge was replaced in July 1950. (Courtesy ODOT.)

      This 75-foot Howe truss Kings Valley Bridge over the Luckiamute River was a state-designed structure built by Benton County workers in 1924. Much like the nearby Ritner Creek Bridge in Polk County, it contained rounded portal openings

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