COVERED BRIDGES

[Randy]

We went out around Ashtabula County Ohio and shot some Covered Bridges today. You not only got bridges, you got fall foilage!


WINDSOR MILLS ROAD

RIVERDALE ROAD

MECHANICSVILLE ROAD

HARPERSFIELD IRON AND TRUSS



DOYLE ROAD



GIDDINGS ROAD

[herron]

;D
Wasn't it a great weekend! I particularly like those first two shots. Thanks for sharing them!

[vintageslrs]

Randy

Nice covered bridge shots!!!
Seems like you enjoyed!!
Good for you!





Bob

[Randy]

Me and Freda got an early start today. She had her Minolta X370 today and I had my Pentax Spotmatic F. These are to hold us over till we get the film developed. KODAK EASYSHARE.

[vintageslrs]

Sherri and I were out all day today at the NH sea coast and took lots of photos......so in the future we hope to have a few good ones to show ya. ;D



Bob

[sinedyar]

Nice shots. I'm fortunate to be not too awful far from the Bridges of Madison County, where a few nice ones are also.

Denis

[John Parry]

Great Randy - lovely colours.

No criticism here, but looking at the third shot some of the wisps of cloud look
'digitised' - an affect I think is caused by the compression of the files. Anyone any idea
why clouds are affected more than the rest of the scene? (It's been quite noticeable
on some of my posts too). Can anyone else see it, or is it an effect caused by my
monitor?

I love these covered bridges - can't get my head around the concept!

Regards - John

[PeterW]

Randy,

So far as I know we don't have covered bridges like that in the UK - at least, I don't recall any. What's the purpose of building a shed over the bridge?

Peter

[vintageslrs]

Peter

reprinted from Sept. 17th---my explanation to John:

I'll tackle your question....here's brief explantion:

The romanticist might see that covered bridges represent a more relaxed time, free from the stress of modern age. These structures evoke images of a slow horse and buggy ride to church on a quiet Sunday, a stolen kiss under the cover of the bridge, or the peacefulness of fishing from a seat on the edge of the bridge, line in the water yet indifferent as to whether or not a fish bites. The historian might see in these spans the development of truss types still in use today, the original attempts to understand the strength of materials, and the analysis of stress on complex structures. Everyone can agree that these bridges were essential to progress by replacing dangerous ferry crossings, reducing the isolation of rural areas, increasing travel speed, and aiding commerce.

Also John, the roof does help preserve the "wood" bridges. And it is important to note that these bridges are made of wood.

Peter----does help to keep snow off them too

and I would bet Peter, if you researched through England's history---you would find Covered Bridges in her past.

be well......have fun
Bob

[Randy]

John, I don't see the pixelization here, but my monitor doesn't have pixels, it's crystal. Peter, Ashtabula County Ohio has 19 Covered Bridges, and there has been a fantastic effort to preserve them. As you can see, the first bridge (Windsor Mills) has just been rebuilt with the original Sunburst Wood Inlay above the opening restored. As Bob has said the bridges have roofs over them to protect the truss work and wooden subase.

[PeterW]

Thanks, Bob and Randy.

I'll see if I can find any in England's history. I'll probably have to back a fair way to find wooden bridges. Most of our smaller road bridges, and some of the larger ones in the 1700s, were brick or stone-block built either in the form of an arch or with pillars spaced across the river.

Of course, England and the USA have very different geography. We get very few ravines crossed by bridges, and the few we have are usually spanned by suspension bridges like the Bristol suspension bridge built in the nineteenth century. The fairly new Queen Elizabeth bridge over the Thames at Dartford, just east of London, is also a beautiful example of a suspension bridge.

When iron girders were first produced in Coalbrookdale the larger road and rail bridges were built from iron girders, with pillars if the span was very wide. One of the advantages was that in high winds the wind blew through the latticework girders. The Tay bridge disaster in the nineteenth century when it collapsed in storm force winds is thought to be because a train crossing the bridge blocked up the lattice of girders and presented a flat face for the wind to blow against.

Peter

[ellacoya1]

Nice bridge pictures. For a while, I was working on taking pictures of all the covered bridges in the state....we've about 50 or so of them scattered around and I've got 35 of them waiting to go into a scrapbook. Figured once I finished New Hampshire, I'd grab the 1 in Maine, much better known for its lighthouses, then Vermont....the chase could become an addiction.
And a little more history...the Chinese used covered bridges back before the birth of Christ, and in some european countries, the example given was Switzerland, there are supposedly covered bridges that predate the discovery of the Americas...
Hmmm, almost makes me want to go sort through my bridge photos and do something with them

[Randy]

Thanks for the info Sherrie!

[kamera]

Covered bridges never fail to amaze and excite me. And they all have some uniqueness about them.

There are only 5 here in Michigan that I know of and one that is especially neat...I will have to look through my boxes and boxes of negs and slides that are absolutely unorganized and try to find some pics of them. The prettiest one I took shots of in Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter so I really hope I can find them to post.

Ron Head
Kalamazoo, MI

[Randy]

I just posted the pictures from my Spotmatic under the thread Spotmatic again. There is a surprise in a tree in one pic, it's an eagle.