Lee's Creek Covered Bridge is a historic wooden bridge on Lee's Creek Road south of

Kentucky Route 8 Kentucky Route 8 is a east–west state highway divided into two distinct segments across northern Kentucky. The western terminus of the route is at KY 237 near Francisville, Kentucky, Francisville. The eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 2 ...

near

Dover, Kentucky Dover is a home rule-class city in Mason County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 221 at the 2020 census, down from 252 in 2010. It is part of the Maysville Micropolitan Statistical Area. History The town of Dover was laid out by ...

. It is long with a double set of

Queen post A queen post is a tension member in a truss that can span longer openings than a king post truss. A king post uses one central supporting post, whereas the queen post truss uses two. Even though it is a tension member, rather than a compression ...

trusses on each side. It was built in 1835 as a toll bridge and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Major renovations were completed in 1926 by the Bower Bridge Company and in 1966 by the Kentucky Highway Department. It was raised to the current height by 15-year-old Stock Bower in 1920. The latest renovation took place in 2001. Iron support beams were added to the bridge during the course of these renovations. Many reasons have been offered to explain the construction of covered bridges in Kentucky during the 19th century. Roads across the bridges were kept dry and free of snow in winter. The protection the cover provided against wood deterioration was likely most important. The cover allowed timbered trusses and braces to season properly and kept water out of the joints, prolonging the life by seven to eight times that of an uncovered bridge. The bridge was bypassed in 2005, but remains open to local traffic.

References

Covered bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Wooden bridges in Kentucky Bridges completed in 1835 Tourist attractions in Mason County, Kentucky Former toll bridges in Kentucky National Register of Historic Places in Mason County, Kentucky Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Queen post truss bridges in the United States Transportation in Mason County, Kentucky 1835 establishments in Kentucky {{Kentucky-bridge-struct-stub

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