Oregon's Covered BridgesBill Cockrell Rugged individuals armed with hand tools, sweat, and ambition began building covered bridges in Oregon during the mid-1850s. These bridge builders often camped out at remote sites, living off the land or contracting with local farmers for food. Early owners of covered bridges financed construction by charging tolls--3¢ for a sheep, 5¢ for a horse and rider, and 10¢ for a team of horses and wagon. In the early 20th century, the state provided standard bridge and truss designs to each county, and most of the resulting structures incorporated the Howe truss. With the abundance of Douglas fir and the shortage of steel during the world wars, the construction of wooden covered bridges continued well into the 1950s, mainly in the Willamette Valley. During the 1920s, Oregon boasted more than 350 covered bridges. |
Contents
Acknowledgments | 6 |
Introduction | 7 |
Benton County | 9 |
Clackamas and Washington Counties | 19 |
Clatsop Tillamook and Yamhill Counties | 31 |
Coos County | 37 |
Douglas County | 45 |
Jackson County | 63 |
Lane County | 69 |
Lincoln County | 91 |
Linn County | 103 |
Marion and Polk Counties | 117 |
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Common terms and phrases
1943 inspection report 75-foot Howe truss Benton County bridge builder bridge lasted Bridge was built bridge was replaced concrete bridge concrete span Coquille River County bridge County constructed County workers built Courtesy Douglas County Courtesy Kildow collection Courtesy ODOT Courtesy Salem Public covered bridge covered span deck Douglas County Douglas County Museum Drift Creek E. D. Olds feet Frear Historic Photograph Collection IMPAIRED CLEARANCE inches inspection report noted J. D. Bennett Lane County Library Historic Photograph Lincoln County Linn logging trucks Luckiamute River Marion County Middle Fork Molalla River North Fork Oregon photograph shows piers portal boards Public Library Historic queenpost truss rebuilt Road Salem Public Library Santiam River showed the bridge small community Smith truss South Santiam River South Umpqua River span was built span was replaced steel truss stringers timbers traffic truss bridge truss built truss span truss structure Tualatin River two-span Vertical clearance Willamette River Yachats River