The Williams Bridge is a wooden

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 ...

built in 1884 and is located in southern

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Location

The Williams Bridge is located in Spice Valley Township in Lawrence County,

, and crosses the East Fork of the White River on Huron and Williams Road, south of State Road 450. It is near the unincorporated town of Williams, about two miles downriver from the Williams Dam and eight miles southwest of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

Construction

The bridge is a

Howe Truss A Howe truss is a truss bridge consisting of chords, verticals, and diagonals whose vertical members are in tension and whose diagonal members are in compression. The Howe truss was invented by William Howe in 1840, and was widely used as a bridg ...

design and was built in 1884 by Joseph 'J.J.' Daniels. Its two spans cover a total length of , with a deck width of and a vertical clearance above deck of . ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs.

History

In 1981, the bridge was added to 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 ...

. It was the longest covered bridge in Indiana that was still open to vehicular traffic. The bridge was closed to traffic around September 20, 2010. The Medora Bridge at , in Jackson County, remains the longest covered bridge in the state, but it was closed to all but pedestrian traffic in 1972.

References

External links

National Register of Historic Places in Lawrence County, Indiana Covered bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Bridges completed in 1884 Wooden bridges in Indiana Transportation buildings and structures in Lawrence County, Indiana Tourist attractions in Lawrence County, Indiana Pedestrian bridges in the United States Former road bridges in the United States Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Howe truss bridges in the United States {{Indiana-bridge-struct-stub