Possum Bottom Covered Bridge, Dana Indiana

Date added: January 16, 2024 Categories: Indiana Covered Bridges Burr Arch

Possum Bottom Covered Bridge is a good example of a Burr Arch truss covered bridge, and of master bridge builder J.J. Daniels' work. The bridge is one of 57 remaining Burr Arch truss timber spans in Indiana. The bridge was originally located 2 1/2 miles east, but was moved in 1972 due to the construction of S.R. 63.

J.J. Daniels, the builder, bid $4,000 to erect the bridge, in competition with builders from some distance:

The Smith Bridge Co., Toledo, Ohio
The Cincinnati Bridge Co., Cincinnati, Ohio
McKey and Telani (sp?), Fort Wayne, Indiana
Indianapolis Bridge Co., Indianapolis
Danville Iron Wagon Works, Danville, Illinois
Oshorne & Ellet, unknown
J.J. Daniels, Rockville, Indiana

Daniels lived in adjacent Parke County during the mid to late 1800s and was one of Indiana's leading timber bridge carpenters. Born in Marietta, Ohio in 1826, J.J. Daniels settled in Rockville in 1861 and was primarily a bridge builder until 1904, the year of his last commission. He built about 60 timber bridges during his career. His closest rivals were the Kennedy family of Rushville and J.A. Britton, also of Parke County. All three leading Indiana bridge makers favored the Burr Arch truss. Most of Indiana's covered timber-truss spans are of the Burr Arch design.

The Burr Arch truss was patented by Theodore Burr of Connecticut in 1806 and 1817. Achieving redundancy by combining the kingpost truss with the compressive strength of the arch, the Burr Arch was a conservative and popular solution to spanning 100 feet or more distances. More of this type of bridge was built in Pennsylvania and Indiana than in any other state. Daniels used the Burr Arch truss almost exclusively, but he experimented with the design by adding iron fittings and tie rods. The Possum Bottom Covered Bridge reflects Daniels' attempts to use the new iron technology to augment the basic Burr Arch truss.

Daniels' method of construction was to install stone abutments, with appropriate sloped surfaces or pockets to bear up at an angle against the arches, and then build a temporary platform on wood poles that had been driven into the river bed between the abutments. The trusses were then erected using block and tackle and then pinned or bolted in place. The kingpost trusses were built with a cant toward the center. Once the falsework or platform was removed, the kingpost trusses settled into place at a true horizontal. The arch rings were then added to the structure. The Possum Bottom Bridge was so built in a little under three months; from July 24^th, 1876 (awarding of contract) to October 20^th, 1876, when the County Commissioners accepted the bridge.

The bridge, now located about 2 1/2 miles west of its original site, is part of a popular park owned by the county. Nearby Parke County holds the annual Covered Bridge Fall Festival, and even though the event highlights bridges of Parke County, Possum Bottom Covered Bridge is featured during the festival as well.

Bridge Description

The Possum Bottom Covered Bridge was built in 1876 on the Bloomfield Road across Little Raccoon Creek, at what was then called Jackson's Ford. Later, a small community called Possum Bottom developed in the vicinity, and the bridge assumed that name. The bridge was moved in 1972 to its current location, just off of U.S. 36 at the Ernie Pyle Rest Park. The original site was about 2 1/2 miles east, near the intersection of U.S. 36 and S.R. 63. It is a Burr Arch truss structure, one of four such bridges remaining in Vermillion County, all built by J.J. Daniels.

Descriptions of the bridge are taken for the most part from specifications as noted in a Special Meeting of the Board of County Commissioners of Vermillion County, July 24^th, 1876. At that time, J.J. Daniels' bid of $4,000 for the bridge, foundations, rip rap, grades, and approaches was accepted.

The foundations consisted of two abutments each on a platform 20 by 24 feet composed of "hardwood timber twelve inches thick of any width the trees will square", the bottom course of timber twenty feet long laid at right angles with the stream; the top course of timber twenty-four feet long laid in line with the stream, the whole sunk in a pit not less than three feet deep below low water mark. On this platform, the masonry was placed.

The two stone abutments were 100 feet apart, 21 long by five feet thick at the base, rose 13 feet high with a batten of 1/2 inch to the foot on the face and ends. Each abutment had two wings extending back at right angles with the ends fifteen feet from the face, said wings five feet thick at the abutment and four feet thick at the back or outer ends with a batten of 1/2 inch to the foot on the face. Additionally, each abutment was to have twenty yards of rubble rock placed about the foundation mixed with an ample quality of brush.

The bridge now rests on concrete abutments. The bridge was specified to be "fourteen feet between the Hubboards, covered with the best pine shingles, vertically weatherboarded with 1-inch lumber & joints battened & properly painted, and to be completed before November 1^st" (a little over 3 months).

The structure is 108 feet on the truss, with 11 feet of overhang at each end for a total length of 131 feet. The posts are 7 3/4 by 9 inches. The diagonals are 7 3/4 by 6 3/4 inches. The arch ring segments are 6 by 12 inches. The floor beams are 4 by 12 inches. Lower chords are double 6 by 12 inch members four panels long, spliced with what Daniels called a double-headed hook, and an iron strap bolted across the splice. The width between the hubboards is 14 feet and the width between the arches is 12 feet, four inches. As with other Daniels-built bridges, the trusses are joined at the top by X-braces and iron tie rods.

The bridge was still in service in 1972, when the four-lane State Route 63 was built through Vermillion County. The bridge was moved to its current site, about 2 1/2 miles west of the original location to save it from destruction. It remains within Helt Township, and is in a similar landscape setting. The bridge now stands without its historic abutments due to the move, but it was placed to span a gully, giving the viewer the feeling of its original function.

Possum Bottom Covered Bridge was repaired in 1990 by the Indiana Department of Transportation in consultation with the Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. A new sheet metal roof was installed, general structural repairs were undertaken, and the siding was repaired. Enough old siding was salvaged to cover the north wall, while new wood siding was placed on the south wall. Signs were placed nearby describing the bridge and its history. Since INDOT policy does not allow rest stops on any thoroughfares lesser than a state route, the park and bridge were donated to the county. The park is much used by the public.