Taftsville Covered Bridge | |
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Coordinates | 43°37′51″N 72°28′04″W / 43.630867°N 72.4678975°W |
Carries | Covered Bridge Road between Woodstock Road & Upper River Road |
Crosses | Ottauquechee River |
Locale | Woodstock, Vermont |
Characteristics | |
Design | modified multiple-
kingpost truss with semi-independent arch |
Material | Wood |
Total length | 189 feet (57.6 m) |
Width | 20 feet (6.1 m) |
No. of spans | 2 |
Piers in water | 1 |
History | |
Designer | Solomon Emmons III |
Opened | 1836 |
Taftsville Covered Bridge | |
NRHP reference No. | 73000214 |
Added to NRHP | August 28, 1973 |
Location | |
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The Taftsville Covered Bridge is a timber-framed covered bridge which spans the Ottauquechee River in the Taftsville 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]
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]
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]
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