Pont covered

Origins

The origin of the covered bridges goes back to the 12th century, in Europe, mainly in Suisse, like Asia. The engineer Thimothy Micrometer caliper (Newburyport, Massachusetts, the United States, made build in 1797 the first bridge with beams triangulated out of wood (farms). 167 meters length, it was built to cross the river Schuylkill with Philadelphia and was named Permanent Bridge . It is however only in 1806 that it was equipped with a roof, that it preserved until the end of its use in 1850.

Micrometer caliper, rightly, decided to make cover the bridge of a roof in order to protect its structure of the bad weather; its probable lifespan of about fifteen years passed thus to several decades. This method was then taken again on several other works in the United States and the Canada.

In Quebec

The oldest always existing bridge covered with the Quebec is that of Elgin (Hinchinbrooke) on the Rivière Châteauguay, which was built in 1861. More than 1000 bridges of this type were built in the province. The last covered bridge built in Quebec was it in 1958 in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

Often set up on small rural roads, these bridges were neglected and, of this thousand, one counted of them nothing any more but 245 in as-used condition in 1965, then 100 in 1980, and finally 91 in 1997. It is at that time, following popular pressures in order to preserve this picturesque inheritance built, that the inventory and the inspection of the covered bridges of the Québécois highway network were undertaken by the Ministère of Transport of Quebec, in order to evaluate of it the state, the tourist interest and maintenance.

In the remainder of Canada and in the United States

One finds in 1999 a bridge covered in Colombia-British, another in Ontario and 66 with the New Brunswick. Moreover, the longest covered bridge is located at Hartland in this province, and its 390 meters going back to 1899 make it possible to cross the Rivière Midsummer's Day.

In the United States, more than 825 covered bridges exist always, especially in New England and in the Midwest: one finds them in Pennsylvania (approximately 200), in Ohio (approximately 135), in Indiana (approximately 95), with the Vermont (approximately 90), with the New-Hampshire (approximately 50) and in Oregon (approximately 50).

In France

France having a well established tradition of construction of bridges in masonry (stone then concrete) and out of metal, the use of wood was reserved for the temporary works or the culverts. There thus exists one bridge out of old wooden covered, on the commune of The-Bridge-Christian-Chabenet in Indre. It was a gantry established on Bouzanne at the time of the construction of a railway viaduct in the middle of the XIXe century. There was quickly doubled by a road bridge without being demolished and remained used for a modest agricultural traffic. It was restored recently and from now on is reserved to the pedestrians.

The development of lamellate-stuck and the proof of its capacities and its durability for construction of markets led to the realization of many footbridges and some road bridges out of wooden, most of the time not - covers. Also, the modern bridge covered with Saint-Gervais-under-Meymont remainder an exception. Built in the middle of the years 1990, it has a range of 33m and is not limited in load. It makes it possible the secondary road 906 to cross Gilds it, in the Puy-de-Dôme.

On the other hand, one knows like bridge-covers in masonry those of Bank-with-Gier (the Loire), above the street the channel, in the past the Canal of Givors, and Narbonne, the famous " Bridge of Marchands".

in Strasbourg

The bridges covered of Strasbourg, on the river Ill, precede by a few years the fortification of the city by Vauban after the catch of the city by Louis XIV, the September 30th 1681. They had as a function to protect the river accesses from the Free City of Strasbourg, raising then of the Empire but having a statute of immediacy and a broad autonomy allowing the establishment of clean customs. The covered bridges were used thus as point of required passage between the Alsatian cities, all located upstream of Strasbourg on the Ill and the the Rhine located at 10 km downstream from Strasbourg, and gave access to the cultural richnesses and the famous knowledge of the " city of the routes".

In Switzerland

The Suisse is undoubtedly one of the first European countries to have built bridges covered out of wood:

the Bridge of Bern which was the first bridge of the town of Freiburg, built around 1250 and length of 40m.
the Holzbrücke of Büren year der Aare, built in 1275 and length of 108m.
the Rheinbrücke between Diessenhofen and Gailingen amndt Hochrhein (Germany), length of 87m, built in 1292, destroyed by the Russian in 1799, rebuilt in 1814, accidentally bombarded by the American the November 9th 1944 and repaired in 1946.
celebrates it Kapellbrücke the Lucerne, built in 1365, longest with its 204 m
the Spreuerbrücke, bridge out of wooden of the town of Lucerne, cover, also named “Bridge of the Dance of Died” by the nature of the 67 panels of Kaspar Meglinger (1626-1635)
the Hohe Brücke, built in 1893, length 48 m and high 100 m, in the Melchtal, the most covered bridge of Europe out of wooden.

In England

The Putney Bridge of Bath, on Avon, is one of most beautiful bridge-covers in masonry. It is bordered of gravers, but the pedestrian can despite everything see the river by windows.

In Vietnam

The bridge covered of Hôi Year, built in 1593 by the Japan board, to connect the Chinese and Japanese communities. Each end is kept by a couple of dogs and monkeys.

Gallery of covered bridges

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