A lattice

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

is a form of

truss bridge 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, compression, or ...

that uses many small, closely spaced diagonal elements forming a

lattice Lattice may refer to: Arts and design * Latticework, an ornamental criss-crossed framework, an arrangement of crossing laths or other thin strips of material * Lattice (music), an organized grid model of pitch ratios * Lattice (pastry), an orna ...

. The lattice Truss Bridge was patented in 1820 by architect

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 ...

. Originally a design to allow a substantial bridge to be made from planks employing lower–skilled labor, rather than heavy timbers and more expensive carpenters, this type of bridge has also been constructed using many relatively light iron or steel members. The individual elements are more easily handled by the construction workers, but the bridge also requires substantial support during construction. A simple lattice truss will transform the applied loads into a thrust, as the bridge will tend to change length under load. This is resisted by pinning the lattice members to the top and bottom chords, which are more substantial than the lattice members, but which may also be fabricated from relatively small elements rather than large beams.

Belfast truss

The ''Belfast truss'' is a cross between Town's lattice truss and the

bowstring truss A bowstring joins the two ends of the bow stave and launches the arrow. Desirable properties include light weight, strength, resistance to abrasion, and resistance to water. Mass has most effect at the center of the string; of extra mass in th ...

. It was developed in Ireland as a wide-span shallow rise roof truss for industrial structures. McTear & Co of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, Ireland began fabricating these trusses in wood starting around 1866. By 1899, spans of had been achieved, and in the 20th century, shipyards and airplane hangars demanded ever greater clear spans.

Wood lattice truss bridges

Astabula Cty (Root Road) townsend latice1982

Bartonsville Covered Bridge The Bartonsville Covered Bridge is a wooden covered bridge in the village of Bartonsville, in Rockingham, Vermont, United States. The bridge is a lattice truss style with a 151-foot span, carrying Lower Bartonsville Road over the Williams River ...

Brown Covered Bridge The Brown Covered Bridge is a wooden covered bridge in Shrewsbury, Vermont. Located in the northwestern part of the town, it carries Upper Cold River Road over the Cold River. It was closed to vehicular traffic in 2011 due to damage from Hurricane ...

Burt Henry Covered Bridge The Burt Henry Covered Bridge, also known as the Henry Covered Bridge or just the Henry Bridge, is a covered bridge that spans the Walloomsac River near Bennington, Vermont. A Town lattice truss bridge, it carries River Road, just south of the vi ...

* Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge *

Euharlee Covered Bridge The Euharlee Covered Bridge, also known as the Euharlee Creek Covered Bridge or rarely the Lowry Bridge, is a wooden Town lattice covered bridge crossing Euharlee Creek in Euharlee, Georgia, United States The United States of America ( ...

Kingsley Covered Bridge The Kingsley Covered Bridge (also called the Mill River Bridge) is a wooden covered bridge carrying East Street across the Mill River in Clarendon, Vermont. Built about 1870, it is the town's only surviving 19th-century covered bridge. The bri ...

Newton Falls Covered Bridge

Newton Falls, Ohio Newton Falls is a village in southwestern Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,557 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. The city takes its name from the two sets of waterfalls within ...

Poole's Mill Covered Bridge Poole's Mill Bridge is a historic wooden covered bridge crossing over Settendown Creek (tributary of the Etowah River) in Forsyth County, Georgia, United States, built in 1901. It is 96 feet long. Circa 1820, Cherokee Chief George Welch constru ...

Root Road Covered Bridge Root Road Bridge is a covered bridge spanning the west branch of the Ashtabula River in Monroe Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio Ashtabula County ( ) is the northeasternmost county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the popula ...

Waterford Covered Bridge The Waterford Covered Bridge is a Town lattice truss covered bridge spanning LeBoeuf Creek in Waterford Township, Erie County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The bridge was built in 1875, and is in length. The Waterford Covered Bridge is one ...

*Watson Mill Covered

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

Windsor Mills Covered Bridge Windsor Mills Bridge, also known as Wiswell Road Bridge or Warner Hollow Road Bridge, is a covered bridge that carries Covered Bridge Lane, formerly Wiswell Road, across Phelps Creek in Windsor Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. Th ...

Worrall Covered Bridge The Worrall Covered Bridge, also known as the Woralls Bridge is a wooden covered bridge carrying Williams Road across the Williams River in Rockingham, Vermont, United States. Built about 1870, it is the only surviving 19th-century covered bridg ...

Frankenfield Covered Bridge The Frankenfield Covered Bridge is a wooden covered bridge that spans Tinicum Creek in Point Pleasant, Pennsylvania, United States. The bridge is located in Bucks County on Cafferty Road about southeast of Headquarters Road, near Vansant Airpor ...

* Uhlerstown Covered Bridge, Pennsylvania * Van Tran Flat Bridge * Zehnder's Holz Brucke

Iron or steel lattice truss bridges

Howard Carroll built the first completely wrought-iron lattice truss bridge. This was built for the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

in 1859.J. A. L. Waddell
Bridge Engineering Vol. 1
Wiley, New York, 1916; page 23. *

Bennerley Viaduct The Bennerley Viaduct is a disused railway viaduct spanning the Erewash Valley between Awsworth (Nottinghamshire) and Ilkeston (Derbyshire) in central England. It was built in 1877 but closed to rail traffic in 1968, as part of the Beeching cuts ...

Bridge in Brown Township Bridge in Brown Township is a historic lattice truss bridge spanning Pine Creek at PA 414 in Brown Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1890, by the Berlin Iron Bridge Co. of East Berlin, Connecticut. The bridge measures ...

Dowery Dell Dowery Dell, between Rubery and Halesowen in Worcestershire, was a , nine span lattice steel, single-track railway viaduct that carried the Halesowen to Longbridge railway. A 10 mph speed limit was in operation. The line opened in 1883. Train ...

Viaduct, also known as

Hunnington Hunnington is a village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove District of Worcestershire, England, close to the border with West Midlands, and just south of Halesowen. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 552. History It was ...

or Frankley Viaduct *

Kew Railway Bridge Kew Railway Bridge spans the River Thames in London, England, between Kew and Strand-on-the-Green, Chiswick. The bridge was opened in 1869. History The bridge, which was given Grade II listed structure protection in 1983, was designed by ...

Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge The Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge (also known as the Northampton Lattice Truss Bridge) is a former crossing of Boston and Maine Railroad over the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts, connecting the towns of Northampton and Hadley, by the ...

Willow Creek Bridge The Willow Creek Bridge, which brought a Pierce County, Nebraska road over Willow Creek, about miles south of Foster, Nebraska, was built in 1913. It is a Lattice truss bridge. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. ...

(1913), in

Pierce County, Nebraska Pierce County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 7,266. Its county seat is Pierce. The county was formed in 1859, and was named for US President Franklin Pierce. Pierce County is p ...

* Upper Slate Run Bridge (1890), a 'quintangular' lattice truss in

Lycoming County, Pennsylvania Lycoming County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 114,188. Its county seat is Williamsport. Lycoming County comprises the Williamsport metropolitan statistical area. About northwest ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Picture and description of Town's lattice trussWatson Mill Bridge, Georgia, US
Truss bridges by type

Belfast truss

Wood lattice truss bridges

Iron or steel lattice truss bridges

See also

References

External links