American Wooden Bridges

Among the featured bridges are two of the longest covered bridges left in the United States, the Medora and Williams bridges; Kentucky's Bennett Mill Bridge, the only surviving Wheeler truss bridge; and the Stark Bridge in New Hampshire, which provides one of the most picturesque scenes in America.

As many as 15,000 covered bridges were built in North America over the past 200 years. Fewer than 1,000 remain. In America's Covered Bridges, authors Terry E. Miller and Ronald G. Knapp tell the fascinating story of these bridges, how they were built, the technological breakthroughs required to construct them and above all the dedication and skill of their builders. Each wooden bridge, whether still standing or long gone, has a story to tell about the nature of America at the time—not only about its transportational needs, but the availability of materials and the technological prowess of the people who built it. Illustrated with some 550 historical and contemporary photos, paintings, and technical drawings of nearly 400 different covered bridges, America's Covered Bridges offers five readable chapters on the history, design and fate of America's covered bridges, plus related bridges in Canada. Most of the contemporary photography is by master photographer A. Chester Ong of Hong Kong. 55 photo essays on the most iconic bridges including: Cornish-Windsor Bridge between Vermont and New Hampshire Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge, Maine East Paden and West Paden (Twin Bridges), Pennsylvania Philippi Bridge, West Virginia Hortons Mill Bridge, Alabama Medora Bridge, Indiana Rock Mill Bridge, Ohio Knight's Ferry Bridge, California Perrault Bridge, Quebec, Canada Hartland Bridge, New Brunswick, Canada Over time, wooden bridges eventually gave way to ones made of iron, steel and concrete. An American icon, many covered bridges became obsolete and were replaced—others simply decayed and collapsed. Many more were swept away by natural disasters and fires. America's Covered Bridges is absolutely packed with fascinating stories and information passionately told by two leading experts on this subject. The book will be of tremendous interest to anyone interested in American history, carpentry and technological change.

Photographs of ninety-five of the most impressive bridges in the United States are presented chronologically, from pre-Civil War spans to today's suspension bridges

This lovingly written book presents reliable records of such vanishing forms of architecture as the American barn and covered bridge. Delightful anecdotes accompany accurate line drawings of barns attached to houses, an "open" log barn in Virginia, a "top hat" barn in North Carolina, and more. Over 75 black-and-white illustrations.

This book invites the reader to step back in time and imagine the days when ancestors traveled through wooden spans to reach their daily destinations. Starting in the early 1800s, Pennsylvania's rich forests provided natural material for the construction of more than 1,500 covered bridges across the state. The first covered bridge was built in 1805. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges looks at the earliest covered bridges as well as those that have survived modern progress. Images also show rare railroad covered bridges that have been saved from destruction over the years.

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.