The Nectar Covered Bridge was a wood and metal combination style

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 ...

which spanned the

Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River The Locust Fork River, in the U.S. State of Alabama, is one of three major tributaries of the Black Warrior River, stretching across Blount, and some portions of Etowah, Jefferson and Marshall counties. Its course (1) drains a watershed of an ...

Blount County, Alabama Blount County is a county located in the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 59,134. Its county seat is Oneonta. Blount County is a moist county. In the November 6, 2012 elections, a countywide ballot initiative t ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It was located on Nectar Bridge Road off State Route 160, just east of the town of

Nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

, about 14 miles (16 kilometers) northwest of Oneonta. Nectar Covered Bridge was at one time the seventh-longest covered bridge in the country. The bridge remained open to single lane motor traffic from its construction until it was burned by vandals on June 13, 1993.

History

Built in 1934, the 385-foot (117-meter) bridge was a

Town Lattice truss A lattice bridge is a form of truss bridge that uses many small, closely spaced diagonal elements forming a latticework, lattice. The lattice Truss Bridge was patented in 1820 by architect Ithiel Town. Originally a design to allow a substantial br ...

construction over four spans.''The Blount Countian'', From the Archives of ''The Southern Democrat'' (October 4, 1928), Published October 6, 2010
Retrieved Feb. 2, 2016. It was built by a crew led by foreman Zelma C. Tidwell over a wide section of the Locust Fork. ''See also:'' It was the third-longest covered bridge built in Blount County. At one time, the Nectar Covered Bridge was the seventh longest covered bridge in the country. The bridge was burned by vandals on June 13, 1993. It was maintained by the Blount County Commission and the

Alabama Department of Transportation The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) is the government agency responsible for transportation infrastructure in Alabama. The Department is organized into five geographic regions, with a Central Office located in Montgomery, AL Montg ...

. The Nectar Covered Bridge 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 ...

on August 20, 1981. Nectar Bridge

The bridge was once a community meeting place and a site for large baptism ceremonies. A concrete bridge has since replaced the former covered bridge, but the old stone piers remain across the river south of the current crossing.

History

See also

References

Further reading