Fallasburg Bridge (alternatively Fallassburgh Bridge) is a span

Brown truss A Brown truss is a type of bridge truss, used in covered bridges. It is noted for its economical use of materials and is named after the inventor, Josiah Brown Jr., of Buffalo, New York, who patented it July 7, 1857, as US patent 17,722. Descri ...

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 ...

, erected in 1871 in Vergennes Township, Michigan, United States, north of Lowell on the Flat River. Carrying Covered Bridge Road across the Flat, it is located in the Fallasburg Historical District south of

Whites Bridge __NOTOC__ Whites Bridge (alternatively White's Bridge) is a Brown truss covered bridge, originally erected in 1869 in Keene Township, Michigan, United States, near Smyrna on the Flat River. Carrying Whites Bridge Road across the Flat River, it ...

and Smyrna. It is 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 ...

, and along with

, Langley Covered Bridge, and Zehnder's Holz Brucke, is one of only four Michigan covered bridges open to vehicle traffic.

Design

The bridge uses the

system, a through truss consisting of diagonal compression beams and (optionally) almost vertical

tension member Tension members are structural elements that are subjected to axial tensile forces. Examples of tension members are bracing for buildings and bridges, truss members, and cables in suspended roof systems. Calculation In an axially loaded tensio ...

s (slanting in at the top toward the center of the span). This system was patented by Josiah Brown of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, in 1857. The Brown truss is similar to the

Howe Howe may refer to: People and fictional characters * Howe (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters * Howe Browne, 2nd Marquess of Sligo (1788–1845), Irish peer and colonial governor Titles * Earl Howe, two titles, an ext ...

arrangement of "X" bracing and counter bracing, but uses lighter members and less timber. It contains no upright compression members and uses no iron except for bolt connectors at the timber intersections. Builders used the Brown truss successfully in at least four covered bridges in Michigan, three of which ( Ada Covered Bridge,

and this one) are still in existence. The Brown truss was thus briefly popular in Michigan but did not gain wide acceptance elsewhere. The bridge currently rests on

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

and

fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...

footings at each end put in place in 1905. As is typical for covered bridges, it is a frame structure with a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d roof that is covered with

creosote Creosote is a category of carbonaceous chemicals formed by the distillation of various tars and pyrolysis of plant-derived material, such as wood or fossil fuel. They are typically used as preservatives or antiseptics. Some creosote types were ...

shingles Shingles, also known as zoster or herpes zoster, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. ...

. Its construction is of the

through-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 ...

type, and the

white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

(sourced from Greenville,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

) trusses are completely sheathed on the outside with rough pine boards. The floor is wide and long and the bridge has an inside clearance of . The bridge has warning signs on each portal: "$5 fine for riding or driving on this bridge faster than a walk."

History

This location along the Flat was settled by two brothers from Tompkins County, New York. John W. and Silas S. Fallas settled here in 1837, founding the village, a stop on the main stage route from Ionia to Grand Rapids, and constructing a chair factory (considered an important precursor to the

furniture industry Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fu ...

in the

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

area),

saw mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ( dimens ...

and

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

. This bridge is at least the second bridge across the Flat at this location, although records are unclear. It is known that a bridge was built here in 1840, and was subsequently destroyed by

ice jam Ice jams occur when a topographic feature of the river causes floating river ice to accumulate and impede further progress downstream with the river current. Ice jams can significantly reduce the flow of a river and cause upstream flooding—som ...

s and

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing. At least one other predecessor to this bridge is believed to also have been constructed, and destroyed in a similar manner, but records are unclear. In 1871, Jared N. Bresee, builder of the Ada Covered Bridge in nearby

Ada Ada may refer to: Places Africa * Ada Foah, a town in Ghana * Ada (Ghana parliament constituency) * Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria Asia * Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, ...

, was contracted to build the present structure at a cost of $1500. The bridge has had repairs and strengthenings over the years, including replacement of the original abutments with concrete in 1905, and two other extensive repair sessions in 1945, and 1994. Because the various repairs and restorations were completed with "conscientious attention to detail", it is believed that the bridge has retained historic integrity and character. The adjacent grist mill site was the focus of an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

dig by

Michigan Tech Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michiga ...

industrial archaeologists in 2003. The bridge is now "a gateway to a place that time forgot," the Grand Rapids Press wrote.

Historical marker

The Fallasburg Covered Bridge was listed with the Michigan State Register on February 12, 1959. It was awarded a Michigan Historical Marker (site S0197) on September 10, 1971. The bridge was then listed with the National Register on March 16, 1972. The bridge lies within the Fallasburg Historic District, designated a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

(District ID: #98001217) on March 31, 1999. The historical marker at the site reads as follows:

''John W. and Silas S. Fallas settled here in 1837, founded a village which soon boasted a chair factory, sawmill, and gristmill. About 1840 the first of several wooden bridges was placed across the Flat River, but all succumbed in a short time to high water and massive spring ice jams. Bridge builder Jared N. Bresee of Ada was given a contract in 1871 to build the present structure. Constructed at a cost of $1500, the bridge has lattice work trusses made of white pine timbers. As in all covered bridges, the roof and siding serve to protect the bridge timbers from rot. Repairs in 1905 and 1945 have kept the bridge safe for traffic for one hundred years.''

Present day use

The bridge remains open to vehicular traffic, although it was damaged in 2013 after a heavy cement truck drove through it. It lies within what is now known as the Fallasburg Pioneer Village or Fallasburg Historical District, established March 31, 1999, and adjacent to the Fallasburg Park. It has a load limit of 3 tons (2.7 tonnes).

The picturesque setting of Fallasburg Park displays Fallasburg Covered Bridge to perfection. Its rural location and quality construction contributed to its survival during a time when old covered bridges were being destroyed to make way for new road construction.

Gallery

Image:FallasburgBridge VehicleCrossingDSCN0016.JPG, Vehicle crossing to the west. $5 fine sign is visible Image:FallasburgBridge UndersideDSCN0007.JPG, Underside view, showing truss members protruding beneath sheathing, and abutments, replaced 1905. Image:FallasburgBridge InteriorSnowProtectionDSCN9996.JPG, Inside, showing

stringers and snow protection File:FallasburgBridge Interior DSCN9994.JPG, Fallas Bridge interior

Design

History

Historical marker

Present day use

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

External links