The Bridges of Ashtabula County - Part II

I find myself asking the question of why do I have to go to far flung places like Ohio and Indiana to see covered bridges when there are many rivers that snake around Michigan.  You would think that combined with the amount of lumber in Michigan, there would be more of them.

Maybe the answer lies in the fact that many of these bridges were restored in the early 1980's.  This might have corresponded with a resurgence of interest in covered bridges.  It is possible that many of Michigan's covered bridges fell into disrepair well before that time.  The other possible answer is that Michigan was making money hands over fists off it's timber trade and used other materials for its bridges.  Still, it seems like there would be more of them.

 In the interest of avoiding post fatigue, I decided to break this up into two parts.  The Olin's Bridge was built in 1873 and it carries Dewey Road over the Ashtabula River.

 It is named after the family who owned the land next to the bridge.  In fact this family still owns the land next to the bridge.  Alson and Alvina Olin came to this area in 1832 from New York.

 This bridge was renovated in 1985.

 Probably one of the more interesting covered bridges I saw was the Smolen-Gulf Bridge.  At 613 feet, it is the longest covered bridge in the United States and the fourth longest in the world.

 It was built to replace the old steel bridge that was built in 1949.  That bridge replaced the Crooked Gulf covered bridge which was built in 1867.

 The bridge itself was designed by John Smolen and construction began in 2006.  It cost almost $8 million to build and construction was completed in 2008.

 In 2010, there was a visitor's pavilion added.

 The view from the other side of the river.

 The Giddings Road Covered bridge was built in 1995 with funding from the ODOT Timber Grant.

 It is 107 feet long.

 The bridge is a Pratt Truss.

 The Netcher Road Bridge was built in 1998 and is one of the newest covered bridges in the area.  It was designed by John Smolen, Jr.

 It was also funded by an ODOT timber grant.

 The South Denmark Road Covered Bridge was built in 1895.

 In 1975, it was bypassed by another bridge but is still open to light traffic.

 I think this is the Caine Road Bridge.  It was built in 1986 in honor of Ashtabula County's 175th Anniversary.  It was also designed by John Smolen Jr.

 It is a Pratt Truss design.

 And still pretty neat.

 The Doyle Road Covered Bridge was built in 1868 and renovated in 1987.

 the Bridge spans Mills Creek which is named after the family that settled it in early days.

 The Mechanicsville Bridge was built in 1867.  It is believed to be the oldest Bridge in the County.

 It was closed to traffic in 2004 while undergoing renovation.  At this time, traffic was rerouted over a nearby Bridge.  I'll have to say this one is in pretty good shape.

 The Harpersfield Covered Bridge is pretty unique in that it is fed by a steel bridge on one side.  The Covered Bridge was built in 1868 and the steel span was added in 1913. 

 In 1992, the bridge was renovated.

 At 228 feet, this is the third longest covered bridge in Ohio.

 I'll have to say it was a pretty neat looking bridge.

 I have no idea why this bridge was on the list of bridges to see.  I guess it is a bridge and it is covered, therefore it is a covered bridge.  It is named the West Liberty Bridge and was built in 2011.  It was designed by John Smolen and has been called the shortest covered bridge in the United States.

 The Riverdale Road Covered Bridge was built in 1874.  In 1945, the center steel bracing was replaced and in 1981, the bridge was renovated.  A concrete abutment was added at the west end after the road was washed out.

It was race against the sunlight to catch this bridge.  It was getting late and approaching the time that I wanted to leave the area but I figured I had one more bridge to catch, so I caught it.  The Windsor Mills Bridge was built in 1867 and renovated in 2004.  The bridge sits atop stone abutments.

So there you have the bridges.  I think I'm going to have to head out that way at some point in the future.

The Bridges of Ashtabula County - Part I

The main reason that I was visiting Ashtabula and Conneaut was to see the number of covered bridges that are in the immediate area.  There are seventeen of them and they range in age from over 100 years old to fairly modern.  Because I wasn't looking at a map when I entered the coordinates into my GPS, I ended up visiting them in a pretty wonky order.  If I go back to that area, I will make sure that I visit them in a logical order.

At any rate, these are in the order that I visited them.

 First up was the Creek Road covered bridge.  It was one of the bridges that was closest to Conneaut.  As I looked at the map, I saw that there were a few around there so that's where I decided to start.

 It is unknown when the bridge was originally built but it was renovated in 1994.  I'm going to guess it was built in the late 1800's but I'm not going to try to guess a decade.

 Many of the bridges in the area are drivable but they are typically fed by dirt roads on either side.  I suspect that cuts down on the speeding leading up to them.

 At any rate, it seems like they try to maintain them to some sort of historical standard rather than an idealized stands.

 The bridge itself is a lattice trussed bridge.  This allows the use of lighter boards and lower skilled laborers to build it.  It is so named because it uses a lattice of elements to form a truss.  These elements are pinned for support.

 The State Road Bridge was my next bridge on my tour.  The original bridge was built in 1831 by Ira Benton and David Niles for $100.

 The support structure is the same as the Creek Road bridge.  The current iteration was built in 1983 and it's dedication was the pre-cursor to the Ashtabula Covered Bridge Festival that is held every second weekend in October.

 It was tough getting down to get this picture but I think it was worth it.  There was a pretty steep hill with lots of mud.  Made it difficult.

 It is still a pretty nice looking bridge.

 I think this is the Middle Road Covered Bridge.

 It was built in 1868 and reconstructed in 1984.  It is a 136 feet long.

 This particular bridge is an example of a Howe Truss.  The design was patented by Massachusetts millwright William Howe in 1840 and is fairly rare.  It uses vertical and horizontal members.

 The Root Road bridge was built in 1868 and renovated in 1983.  It was named after Herbert Root who married the daughter of one of the first Superintendent of Roads in Ashtabula County.  That man probably oversaw the construction of many of these bridges.

 In 1983, the bridge was raised 18" and a new center pier was added.

 It's design is very similar to the first one I posted.

 Another angle of the bridge.

 The Benetka Road Bridge was built in the early 1900's and was restored in 1985.  It was originally named East Matherson which named after Samuel Mather.

 It's a pretty nice bridge.

It is very similar to the other bridges in the area.

A Brief Stop at the Fallasburg Covered Bridge

I decided to head over to Muskegon on Sunday in order to catch a ship that was coming into the harbor.  Since I didn't get the opportunity the last time I headed over and I had some time, I decided to make a stop at the Fallasburg Bridge.

 Apparently I didn't get enough covered bridges when I was in Indiana.  I think this one looks a little better than some of the bridges there though.  At least, the setting looks a little better.

 If I had been paying attention, I could have caught this as it was going over the bridge.

 Just some shots of the bridge.

 I would imagine if there were a fine, it would be more than $5 today.  The camera above that sign is a sad reality given the demise of the White's Bridge.

 I decided to head over to the other side.

 But sadly, I couldn't get over the path as far as I wanted because it was pretty overgrown this time.

 Just trying some different angles.

 Looking down the inside.

 Back on the other side, trying to get the leading curve into the bridge.

 Probably my favorite shot.

One more shot before moving on.