Hogback Covered Bridge, Winterset Iowa

Date added: December 13, 2023 Categories: Iowa Covered Bridges Town Lattice Truss

H.P. Jones constructed a number of covered bridges in the Winterset region. Although, his structures were based upon the Town lattice plan popular in New England, Jones added details uniquely his own. Richard S. Allen writes: "For substructure, Jones used caisson piers, and he buttressed the sides of his spans with taut guy rods attached to protruding floor beams. Inside, his single-web lattices were usually given the extra reinforcement of auxiliary arches, queenposts, or a combination of the two. Jones' most startling innovation was the virtual elimination of the conventional high-pitched roof. His bridges are tightly weather-boarded to the eaves, and their roofs have only a very slight pitch. These squared tubular covered bridges have a unique appearance duplicated only in a few other places in the world.

Between 1868 and 1884, Madison County erected nineteen wooden covered bridges. Overtime, all but five of these structures were lost to floods, fires, progress or willful destruction. In 1933, the Madison County Historical Society began campaigning to preserve the county's ten surviving covered bridges, but they faced strong opposition from progress-minded citizens and local farmers, who desired modern open spans. Controversy continued for nearly two decades, and during that time, several more covered bridges were lost.

In 1950, the Madison County Board of Supervisors finally agreed to maintain the county's seven surviving covered bridges as tourist attractions. One by one, the bridges were moved or bypassed over the next three decades, but the county upheld its commitment to preserve them. In 1970, the county held the first annual Madison County Covered Bridge Festival, a time-honored event that now draws thousands of visitors each year. Tourism increased dramatically in the 1990s following the publication and subsequent movie adaptation of Robert James Waller's novel, The Bridges of Madison County.

Unfortunately, the covered bridges are still threatened by vandalism and arson. McBride Bridge was burned in 1983, Cedar Bridge was burned in 2002 (and rebuilt in 2004), and there were subsequent arson attempts on Hogback and Roseman bridges. In cooperation with the Coalition for Advanced Wood Structures (USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory and Iowa State University Bridge Engineering Center), Madison County is currently testing a remote monitoring system to identify and mitigate potentially destructive activities at covered bridges. The ultimate goal is to develop tools for long-term preservation of historic timber bridges across the country.

Bridge Description

Hogback Bridge has a span of 96 feet; including the approaches, 154 feet; the width is 15 feet. The flat-top wood roof is covered with tarred metal sheeting. It is constructed using the Town lattice, a crisscross web of planks on each side reinforced by a diagonal-horizontal arc, and held together with metal bolts. The basic structure is of native lumber, including the plank flooring. Each end rests on steel tube pilings which replaced the original wood pilings. The outside cover is of six-inch boards, some of which have been replaced. The structure is painted red with white trim.

The Hogback Bridge retains its original appearance, as well as its original setting. It is set at the south end of a long wooded ridge (hogback-shaped). The surrounding valleys to the east and west are farm ground with a background of wooded hills. Maintenance is very adequate, and there is a posted load limit for the structure.