The Old Covered Bridge, also known as the Upper Sheffield Covered Bridge, is a

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 ...

on Covered Bridge Lane in

Sheffield, Massachusetts Sheffield is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,327 at the 2020 census. Sheffield is home to Berkshire School, a private prepa ...

. It is a replica of an 1837

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

bridge that was destroyed by fire in 1994. At the time of its destruction it was the oldest covered bridge in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. The 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 ...

in 1978. The bridge is open to pedestrians.

Description and history

The Old Covered Bridge is located just east of the village of Sheffield Plain, spanning the

Housatonic River The Housatonic River ( ) is a river, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United S ...

at the ends of Covered Bridge Lane. The bridge is approached from the west by a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

extending all the way to

United States Route 7 U.S. Route 7 (US 7) is a north–south United States highway in western New England that runs for through the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. The highway's southern terminus is at Interstate 95 (I-95) exit 1 ...

, and from the east by a causeway about long, both crossing the river's flood plain. The bridge is long, and rests on granite abutments, one of which is of 19th-century origin, while the other was the result of a 20th-century rehabilitation of the 1837 bridge. The bridge has two lattice trusses built to the patent of

Ithiel Town Ithiel Town (October 3, 1784 – June 13, 1844) was an American architect and civil engineer. One of the first generation of professional architects in the United States, Town made significant contributions to American architecture in the ...

, whose lower members have been doubled for added strength. The exterior is finished in vertical board siding, and it is covered by a gabled roof. The 1837 bridge was one of the oldest known examples of a Town truss, built to an updated version of Town's patent published in 1835. The bridge underwent period maintenance, and was closed to traffic in 1970 after the Labor Day 1969 UFO Incident. The original bridge was restored in 1974 and 1981, and was listed on the

in 1978. The bridge was destroyed by fire in 1994, and the replacement bridge was complete in 1996. The fire was determined to be

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

, set by local teenagers. The bridge was rebuilt to plans that had been drawn during its restoration.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Covered bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Bridges in Berkshire County, Massachusetts Tourist attractions in Berkshire County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Berkshire County, Massachusetts Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Wooden bridges in Massachusetts Lattice truss bridges in the United States Sheffield, Massachusetts

Description and history

See also

References