America's Covered Bridges: Practical Crossings - Nostalgic Icons Hardcover - 2014

The history of North America is in many ways encapsulated in the history of her covered bridges. The early 1800s saw a tremendous boom in the construction of these bridges, and in the years that followed as many as 15,000 covered bridges were built. Today, fewer than a thousand remain.

Without covered bridges to span the rivers and provide access to vast swaths of the interior that had previously been difficult to access—America never would have developed the way she did. 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 of the bridges, 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.

Central to the development of any large bridge is the challenge of supporting a long span that is flat rather than arched—especially in the days before steel and concrete became widely available. Early American bridge builders and carpenters developed revolutionary new methods of joining timbers into patterns consisting of triangles or continuous arches that resulted in structures rigid enough to span long distances. Called wooden trusses, these supports were critical and had to be protected from the elements by a roof. Most people today don't realize that bridges are covered to protect the trusses—not the people using the bridge! If not well protected, the trusses would soon degrade and the bridge would collapse.

North American covered bridges were marvels of engineering long before modern civil engineering was invented. Self-taught carpenters and builders discovered how to shape and join timbers into patterns in just the right ways to achieve a desired strength. Over time, wooden bridges eventually gave way to ones made of iron, steel and concrete. Many covered bridges became obsolete and were replaced—others simply decayed and collapsed. Many more were swept away by raging torrents or ice floes, or by tornados, tropical storms, and hurricanes. A few were reduced to ashes by accidental fires, or torched by arsonists.

Over a hundred covered bridges are shown and described in this book, including:

• Northfield Falls' Five Covered Bridges, Vermont
• Halls Mills Bridge, New York
• Clarkson-Legg Bridge, Alabama
• Jackson Bridge, Indiana
• Honey Run Bridge, California

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 early technology.