The Eldean Covered Bridge is a historic

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

spanning the

Great Miami River The Great Miami River (also called the Miami River) (Shawnee: ''Msimiyamithiipi'') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accesse ...

Miami County, Ohio Miami County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 108,774. Its county seat is Troy, Ohio, Troy. The county is List of Ohio county name etymolo ...

north of

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

. Built in 1860, it is one of the nation's finest surviving examples of a

Long truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension (mechanics), tensi ...

, patented in 1830 by engineer

Stephen H. Long Stephen Harriman Long (December 30, 1784 – September 4, 1864) was an American army civil engineer, explorer, and inventor. As an inventor, he is noted for his developments in the design of steam locomotives. He was also one of the most pro ...

. At in length for its two spans, it is the longest surviving example of its type. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1975, and was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 2016.

Description and history

The Eldean Covered Bridge is located north of the city of Troy, spanning the Great Miami River between Concord Township and Staunton Township on a now-bypassed segment of County Road 33. It is a two-span structure, mounted on cut stone abutments and a central pier. The western abutment and central pier have been capped in concrete, and the pier has a

cutwater In architecture, a starling (or sterling) is a defensive bulwark, usually built with pilings or bricks, surrounding the supports (or piers) of a bridge or similar construction. Starlings may be shaped to ease the flow of the water around the brid ...

feature on its northern (upstream) side. The total structure length is , with each span about and wide. The roadway has a width of and a maximum clearance of . The bridge has a gabled metal roof, vertical board sheathing on the outside, and small square apertures framed in each side for light. County Road 33 was laid out in 1847, providing access to a hamlet originally serving the

Miami and Erie Canal The Miami and Erie Canal was a canal that ran from Cincinnati to Toledo, Ohio, creating a water route between the Ohio River and Lake Erie. Construction on the canal began in 1825 and was completed in 1845 at a cost to the state government of $ ...

to the east. The present bridge was built in 1860, and is the second to stand on the site. The bridge trusses were built to a patented design by engineer

. The

was the first truss structure to be designed using engineering principles, and it introduced the idea of prestressed elements which are used to counteract active load on the structure. This bridge is one of the finest and least-altered examples of this truss type. With the demise of the

Old Blenheim Bridge Old Blenheim Bridge was a wooden covered bridge that spanned Schoharie Creek in North Blenheim, New York, United States. With an open span of , it had the second longest span of any surviving single-span covered bridge in the world. The 1862 Br ...

in New York, it is also the longest example of the type. On December 23, 2016, the Eldean Covered Bridge was designated a

References

External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Covered bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Bridges completed in 1860 Transportation in Miami County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Miami County, Ohio Buildings and structures in Miami County, Ohio Historic American Engineering Record in Ohio National Historic Landmarks in Ohio Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Wooden bridges in Ohio Long truss bridges in the United States

Description and history

See also

References

External links