There is a covered bridge here in Cleremont County, OH. It was built back in 1878. We plugged in the GPS coordinates and found it yesterday. It looks pretty neat, but what caught my attention was the structural design of the bridge.
It is a 12 panel Howe Truss spanning 140 feet. Howe patented this truss design in 1840, which consists of crossed wooden members with vertical iron rods. You can see it pretty clearly here. At first I was surprised that the members are mostly in compression. A steel bridge truss has most members in tension. Then as I thought about the joints, it made sense. Joints of wood in tension will pull apart, whereas in compression, the joints are held together. The vertical iron rods hold things tight and seem to be the only components in tension.
Click the pictures to make them BIG!
As you drive across the bridge (one car at a time) cars approaching the other end honk to let you know they are in your way since they stop right in the middle of the narrow road right at the entrance and you can't get past them until they back up.
Here the creeks are called Licks and Runs instead of Creeks. I have no idea why.
We sure love you all!
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