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Taftsville Covered Bridge

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Taftsville Bridge
HABS photo of Taftsville Bridge, 2004
Coordinates43°37′51″N 72°28′04″W / 43.63082°N 72.46791°W / 43.63082; -72.46791
CarriesCovered Bridge Road between Woodstock Road & Upper River Road
CrossesOttauquechee River
LocaleWoodstock, Vermont
Characteristics
Designmodified multiple-kingpost truss
with semi-independent arch
MaterialWood
Total length189 feet (57.6 m)
Width20 feet (6.1 m)
No. of spans2
Piers in water1
History
DesignerSolomon Emmons III
Opened1836 (1836)
Location
Map

The Taftsville Bridge is a timber-framed covered bridge which spans the Ottauquechee River in the Taftville village of Woodstock, Vermont in the United States.[1] Built in 1836 and exhibiting no influence from patented bridge designs,[1] it is among the oldest remaining covered bridges both in Vermont[2] and the nation as a whole.[3]

History

The village of Taftsville was first settled more than 70 years before the construction of the modern Taftsville Bridge.[4] Stephen Taft, after whom the village was ultimately named, arrived in the early 1790s. Within a decade of Taft's arrival, he and his brother had established a number of mills and the increasingly busy settlement required a bridge over the Ottauquechee River. The first bridge was washed away during a flood in 1807, with its replacement also falling to floodwaters in 1811. When the third bridge at the site was again washed away during an 1828 flood, a distinguished local by the name of Solomon Emmons III was contracted to build a more resilient crossing. His timber-framed, covered bridge was completed in 1836 and still stands today as the modern Taftsville Bridge.[1]

The Taftsville Bridge was extensively damaged by flooding caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011, and was closed for two years while repairs took place. It was reopened in September 2013.[5]

Architecture

Unlike many extant covered bridges which are based upon patented bridge designs, the Taftsville Bridge reflects an earlier "craftsman" bridge-building tradition that was possibly influenced by designs found in Switzerland. While the incorporation of laminated arches in the bridge structure is generally indicative of the well-known Burr arch-truss, which was patented in the United States in 1817, the resemblance is purely superficial. Instead, the unusual design of the Taftsville Bridge is better described as a "modified multiple kingpost truss with semi-independent arches".[1]

Taftsville Bridge reaches a total of 189 feet (58 m) over the Ottauquechee River with two spans of 89 feet (27 m) and 100 feet (30 m) from either river bank to a central pier in the river gorge. The bridge measures 20 feet (6.1 m) in width, providing an interior roadway that is 16 feet (4.9 m).[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Historic American Engineering Record: Taftsville Bridge, HAER No. VT 30" (PDF). National Park Service. United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  2. ^ Bickel, Hank. "Vermont Covered Bridges: Taftsville Bridge VT-14-12". Covered Bridges of the Northeast USA. Hank Bickel. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  3. ^ Conwill, Joseph D (2014). Covered Bridges. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781784420109.
  4. ^ Dana, Henry Swan (1889). History of Woodstock, Vermont. Houghton, Mifflin. p. 98. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  5. ^ "Reconnecting with the Taftsville Covered Bridge". Happy Vermont. July 11, 2014. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  6. ^ Hugh H. Henry (August 28, 1973). "NRHP Nomination:Taftsville Covered Bridge" (Document). National Park Service. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |work= ignored (help)
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