Bridgeport Covered Bridge
| Bridgeport Covered Bridge | |
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 View of the Bridgeport Covered Bridge |
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| Carries | Pedestrian |
| Crosses | South Yuba River |
| Locale | Nevada County, California |
| Designer | David Ingefield Wood[1] |
| Design | Howe truss with auxiliary arch covered bridge[1] |
| Total length | 233 feet (71 m)[1] |
| Longest span | 208 feet (63 m)[2] |
| Load limit | 13 Tons (Current estimate at 3 tons due to age of timbers) |
| Opened | 1862[1] |
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Bridgeport Covered Bridge
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| Nearest city: | French Corral, CA |
| Coordinates: | 39°17′33.86″N 121°11′41.66″W / 39.2927389°N 121.1949056°WCoordinates: 39°17′33.86″N 121°11′41.66″W / 39.2927389°N 121.1949056°W |
| Built: | 1862[2] |
| Architectural style: | Howe Truss with an auxiliary Burr Arch Truss[2] |
| NRHP Reference#: | 71000168 |
| CHL #: | 390 |
| Added to NRHP: | July 14, 1971[3] |
The Bridgeport Covered Bridge is located in Bridgeport, Nevada County, California, southwest of French Corral and north of Lake Wildwood. It is used as a pedestrian crossing over the South Yuba River. The bridge was designed by David Ingefield Wood, and built in 1862. Its lumber came from Plum Valley in Sierra County, California.[4] The bridge was closed to traffic in 2010 and pedestrians in 2011 due to deferred maintenance and "structural problems".[5]
The Bridgeport Covered Bridge has the longest clear span of any surviving covered bridge in the world.[1][6]
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[edit] Historic landmark
The bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1971,[3] and it is also a California Registered Historical Landmark No. 390. There are three plaques at the site.
The inscription on the marker placed in 1964 reads:
"Built in 1862 by David Isaac John Wood with lumber from his mill in Sierra County, this bridge was part of the Virginia Turnpike Company toll road which served the northern mines and the busy Nevada Comstock Lode. Utilizing a combination truss and arch construction, it is one of the oldest housed spans in the west and the longest single-span wood-covered bridge in the United States."[7]
[edit] Longest span
A report by the U.S. Department of the Interior states that the Bridgeport Covered Bridge (HAER No. CA-41) has clear spans of 210 feet (64 m) on one side and 208 feet (63 m) on the other, while Old Blenheim Bridge (HAER No. NY-331) had a documented clear span of 210 feet (64 m) in the middle (1936 HABS drawings).[8]
With the 2011 destruction of the Old Blenheim Bridge, the Bridgeport Covered Bridge is the undisputed longest-span wooden covered bridge still surviving. Historically, the longest single-span covered bridge on record was Pennsylvania's McCall's Ferry Bridge with a claimed clear span of 360 feet (110 m) (built 1814–15, destroyed by ice jam 1817).[8]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Bridgeport Covered Bridge, at Nevada County, California website
- Pictures of the Bridgeport Covered Bridge, at California Dept. of Transportation
- South Yuba River State Park
- Bridgeport Covered Bridge at the Library of Congress
- Bridgeport Covered Bridge at the Covered Spans of Yesteryear website
- South Yuba River Park Adventures, pictures, events, maps, wildflowers
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Jackson, Donald C. (1988). Great American Bridges and Dams. Wiley. pp. 268–269. ISBN 0-471-14385-5.
- ^ a b c "Library of Congress". Historic American Engineering Record. 1985-01-01. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=hhdatapage&fileName=ca/ca1300/ca1341/data/hhdatapage.db&title2=Bridgeport%20Covered%20Bridge,%20Spanning%20South%20Fork%20of%20Yuba%20River%20at%20bypassed%20section%20of%20Pleasant%20Valley%20Road%20(originally%20Virginia%20Turnpike)%20in%20South%20Yuba%20River%20State%20Park%20,%20Bridgeport,%20Nevada%20County,%20CA&recNum=0&itemLink=D?hh:1:./temp/~ammem_wSZh::.
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
- ^ "California Historical Landmarks in Nevada County". noehill.com. http://www.noehill.com/nevada_county_california/cal0390.asp. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
- ^ Historic Bridgeport Bridge to close - Appeal-Democrat
- ^ The Nevada County, California website that claims Bridgeport Covered Bridge has a longer span than the Old Blenheim Bridge had, also claims it is a National Historic Landmark. While the National Historic Landmark search system does not report on the existence of this bridge as a National Historic Landmark. It is a California Historical Landmark and listed at the National Register of Historic Places.
- ^ "Bridgeport (Nyes Crossing) Covered Bridge". HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE. http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=8540. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
- ^ a b Bennett, Lola (2002–2003). "Blenheim Bridge (HAER No. NY-331)". National Covered Bridges Recording Project. Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=pphhdatapage&fileName=ny/ny2000/ny2006/data/hhdatapage.db&recNum=0&itemLink=D?hh:16:./temp/.
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- Covered bridges in California
- History of Nevada County, California
- Bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in California
- California Historical Landmarks
- Wooden bridges in the United States
- Bridges completed in 1862
- Former road bridges in the United States
- Pedestrian bridges in California
- Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks
- Transportation in Nevada County, California
- Buildings and structures in Nevada County, California
- Visitor attractions in Nevada County, California
- Road bridges in California
