Bellows Falls, Vermont, USA

What services can a covered bridge provide? It can carry a couple of mailboxes for nearby residents. Alas, the original Hall covered bridge was destroyed by an overweight truck in 1980. Given Vermonters love of the bucolic, however, it was immediately rebuilt to exacting, authentic standards. Thank you Milton Graton.[2009]

Philippi, West Virginia, USA

The Philippi covered bridge (pronounced with a -pee at the end) spans the Tygart River. It is a rare double-barreled, two-lane bridge, a three-lane bridge if you count the outside pedestrian walkway. If you visit, be sure to take in the local museum where you will find a collection of human mummies from the late 1800s. [2021]

Stevens, Pennsylvania, USA

Bucher's Mill covered bridge is still open to traffic, both human and canine. It spans a waterway with one of the most colorful names in American toponymy: the Cocalico Creek. Across the region, though, there are more watercourses with equally entertaining names: Chiques, Conestoga, Conowingo, Conewago, Codorus, Conodoguinet, Conococheague. [2023]

Brandywine, Delaware, USA

Delaware's Three Covered Bridges: Originally built in 1839 but rebuilt several times since then, Smith's Bridge is the longest in the state. Unlike the other two covered bridges in the First State, this one uses a Burr arch design (see it through the window?) rather than a lattice truss. [2022]

Ashland, Delaware, USA

Delaware's Three Covered Bridges: Built in the mid-1800s, the Ashland Bridge is the oldest in the state. Its value as a cultural landmark was recognized in the 1960s. Since then it has been rehabilitated many times and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. All three covered bridges in the First State are open to traffic. Remarkable! [2018]

Wooddale, Delaware, USA

Delaware's Three Covered Bridges: The Wooddale covered bridge, originally built in the mid-1800s, was taken out by a flood in 2003. Thanks to DelDOT, however, the bridge was rebuilt in 2008 using the original lattice truss design and authentic building techniques, including the use of treenails (below) to hold the lattice together. [2018]

Millerton, Pennsylvania, USA

It is a bridge and it is covered, but it is not an authentic covered bridge because it rests of two steel I-beams that really do the work of carrying the traffic across the stream. This "stringer" serves simply as a portal to the estate on the other side. If you visit, the owner may even be there to meet you. [2007]

Grantsville, Maryland, USA

The Spruce Forest covered bridge was not an engineering landmark. Nevertheless, it served an important function. It was the portal into a popular Appalachian craft village. Unfortunately, Spruce Forest was hit by a severe wind storm in 2020 and the bridge was destroyed (along with other buildings and many trees). Expect it to be rebuilt. [2010]

Cornish, New Hampshire, and Windsor, Vermont, USA

The Cornish-Windsor covered bridge connects two states across the Connecticut River. From portal to portal, it's the longest in the United States and a civil engineering landmark. Remember, though, you must "walk your horses or pay two dollars fine." [2018 and 1991]

Graz, Austria

The flow below is not water, but could this still be considered a covered bridge? Say yes: (a) It is a bridge. (b) It is covered. (c) It looks like it is built out of wood. Say no: (a) The wood is merely cladding. (b) 19th-century building rules were not followed. (c) There is no wooden truss to distribute the weight to either side. [2003]

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

The flow below is not water and the stream bed is not rock. The stream of traffic under this covered bridge glides along on a veneer of macadam. Although not an authentic covered bridge, definitional boundaries are being tested since this one has been built to look a bit like the medieval wooden crossing in Lucerne, Switzerland. [2013]

Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK

Do inter-edificial passageways count as covered bridges if they are covered? Do glass tubes count as covered bridges even if they are not made of wood? Do elevated crossings count as covered bridges if the flow below is not water? Does an urban university have as much right to have a covered bridge as a rural countryside? [2009]
 

Covington, Virginia, USA

Loveworks Connect: February is month number 2, so here's a 2fer: a shot of the Humpback Bridge in winter and in summer. Look again and spell out the letters. Where is the V? Virginia used to have two covered bridges built in the 1850s. Now, it has only the one pictured here. Yet, both are still standing. How can that be? Here is a hint about the second. [2017]

Thurmont, Maryland, USA

♫ These Are a Few of My Favorite Things ♫ ~ Covered Bridges: As soon as he started to drive, Geographically Yours started collecting covered bridges. Unlike the purists, though, he never cared whether they were authentic or decidedly unauthentic. Thurmont's authentic but rehabilitated Utica Mills bridge is now open to a new generation of traffic. [2019]

Claremont, North Carolina, USA

The Bunker Hill Covered Bridge is one of the last two remaining covered bridges in North Carolina. It dates back to the 1890s. Any community with a covered bridge has a unique treasure, but Catawba County has a double-unique treasure. The weight of its bridge is supported by the one and only remaining Haupt truss in the world. Impressed? [2020]

Stone Mountain, Georgia, USA

Is it an authentic covered bridge? Yes. The World Guide to Covered Bridges logs it in as 10-44-01. But, the Stone Mountain Bridge is not geographically authentic. Originally located in Athens, it was moved to Stone Mountain Park in 1965. The bridge has African-American roots: The designer and builder was Washington W. King. [2020]

Foster, Rhode Island, USA

Is it an authentic covered bridge? No. If you were using the World Guide to Covered Bridges, you would not be able to find it. Why? Because the truss bears none of the weight of the roadway. That mission is accomplished by six I-beams that stretch from bank to bank. The Swamp River bridge (with its lattice truss) dates from the late 20th century. [2019]

Landisburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Is it an authentic covered bridge? Yes. Rice Bridge has been given a number in the World Guide to Covered Bridges: 38-50-10. The first two numbers refer to state and county; the last means that it is the 10th covered bridge enumerated in Perry County. Built: 1869. Length: 132 feet. Type: Burr & Queen. And, through it, you can still drive! [2018]

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Like its box-car cousin, this may be a bridge and it may be covered, but it does not qualify as a covered bridge if you apply the standards of the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Yet, this kind of covered bridge has become a part of every large city in the world even though most are not as high as those in Peachtree Center. [2020]

Williams, Arizona, USA

Would you call this a covered bridge? Yes: It is a bridge and it is covered. No: It is neither wooden nor authentic. Remember how the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges sees it. Real covered bridges must be built of wood using authentic materials and skills. This may be an authentic box car, but certainly not an authentic bridge. [2019]