Newport Covered Bridge, Newport Indiana

Date added: January 07, 2024 Categories: Indiana Covered Bridges Burr Arch

The Newport Covered Bridge is one of 57 remaining Burr Arch timber bridges in Indiana. With a span of 180 feet, it is one of the longest Burr Arch covered bridges in the state. It is one of four existing covered bridges in Vermillion County. From 1885 to the present it has been in continuous service on a main road in agricultural central Vermillion County, connecting Newport, the county seat, with Quaker, Dana, and the area's farms.

It was petitioned to be built by the Township Trustee, and the Commissioners decided in June of 1883 to construct a bridge, but the county "found no funds" and ordered it to be "constructed as soon as means provide". It was specified to be either iron or wood, but J.J. Daniels bid of $6,800 for a Burr Arch timber span won over the other 23 sealed bids.

The bridge was erected on a frequently traveled "free gravel road" at the ford at Samuel Morehead's farm, and the County Commissioners ordered it to be named the Morehead Bridge. The name did not stick, and it is universally called now the Newport Covered Bridge, even though it is nearly a mile from Newport. The gravel road connects Quaker with Newport. Historically, these were the largest towns in Vermillion Township of Vermillion County.

J.J. Daniels, builder of the Newport Bridge, was one of the best-known bridge contractors in Indiana. He lived in Rockville in adjacent Parke County. Wayne Weber, architect and author of Covered Bridges in Indiana, suggests that Daniels was sufficiently free in contract specifications to build covered bridges expressing his personal architectural style. Daniels preferred the conservative Burr Arch truss, which introduces redundancy by having two independent systems; the kingpost truss and the added strength of the arch. Indiana's other leading timber bridge builders, the Kennedy family and J.A. Britton, also favored the Burr Arch truss, but Daniels experimented with the design by adding iron reinforcing and fittings. Newport Covered Bridge reflects Daniels' experimentation in several ways. The use of iron shoes and tie rods provide one example, however, the use of doubled, concentric arches is unusual as well.

Weber notes that Theodore Burr of Connecticut was issued patents for bridge trusses in 1806 and 1817. Burr was a noted bridge builder in the East even before the patents. The Burr Truss became more popular in Pennsylvania and Indiana than in any other states, and more of that bridge type remains in Indiana than any other kind. All but a few of the about 60 timber spans that Daniels built used the Burr Arch truss.

The technique used by Daniels to build a Burr Arch bridge is well known. Stone abutments were installed, with pockets for the arches, and then a temporary platform on wood poles driven into the river bed was placed between the abutments. The trusses were assembled on the platform using block and tackle, and then pinned or bolted into place. The kingpost truss was built with a slight cant toward the center. After removal of the platform, the truss would settle to a true horizontal and the arch rings would be added. It has been stated that four skilled men and one or two helpers could erect such a bridge in three months after the abutments were complete.

Bridge Description

The Newport Covered Bridge was built in 1885 on the "Newport and Quaker Point Free Gravel Road" over the Little Vermillion River, at what was then called Morehead's Ford. The County Commissioners named it Morehead Bridge, but this name wasn't popular, and the bridge is now known as the Newport Covered Bridge.

There were 24 separate sealed bids to construct this bridge. J.J. Daniels' $6,800 bid was selected in the same action as approval to build an iron span a few miles to the north. Daniels unsuccessfully bid $850 to build that bridge. The iron bridge is long since gone. The timber covered bridge is still in service, which speaks well of the design and construction. In 1984, the entire floor was replaced in materials similar to the original but at $68,500 almost exactly ten times the cost of the whole bridge originally.

Starting at 3 feet below the water level, some 68 piles were driven under each abutment location, not less than fifteen feet deep. Each piling was to be not less than 7 inches in diameter at the small end and not less than 10 inches nor more than 14 inches at the butt. They were to be of Burr or White Oak. Two courses of good sound 12-inch square timbers were placed upon the piles and securely drift bolted to the piling.

The masonry was specified to be "of the best sand stone obtainable in the neighborhood and the whole to be properly bedded and bonded and laid up in good cement, in such a manner as that is shall constitute a first-class job of Bridge Masonry".

Specifications for the Morehead (Newport) Bridge were made by County Engineer T.Z. Anderson, but cannot be found in County Commissioner's records as have specifications for the other three covered bridges existing in Vermillion County. Most of the details, however, can be measured or deduced.

The bridge span is 180 feet plus 15 feet of overhang at each end for a total length of 210 feet. The interior width is 16 feet between the wheel guards but only 14 1/2 feet between the arches at floor level. The clear height is 18 feet. It is a Burr Arch truss design, similar to the other four existing covered bridges of Vermillion County. The trusses consist of sixteen repeating panels, each a post and diagonal, and each panel 11 feet 1 inch wide.

The Burr Arch rings differ from other similar Daniels bridges, being of 11-inch timber instead of 16-inch timber, but installed double, with two concentric arches inside and outside each of the two side trusses, or eight total arches. They are bolted through the vertical posts with 1-inch iron bolts and the splices are alternated every other post. Throughout most of the bridge, the arch pairs are on either side of and directly in contact with the 9-inch wide vertical posts, but as the arches approach the end of the bridge, they splay out and are 30 inches apart where they bear upon the masonry abutments.

The lower chord members are 8 by 15 inches. The upper chord members are 9 by 12 inches, as are the posts. The main diagonal braces are 9 by 9 inches and the lateral braces are 6 by 6 inches.

The siding is 1 by 12-inch board and batten, painted a typical barn red. There are no windows. The walls are open on top, under the 2-foot eaves, by 1 1/2 feet, to provide light. The gable ends are flat and undecorated, painted a typical white with 1885 lettered above the opening.

The horizontal braces at the top and bottom of the trusses sit on iron shoes in notches in the vertical posts. They are held in Place by one-inch diameter iron tie rods spanning the width of the bridge.

Since 1885, some of the siding has been replaced and the entire floor was replaced in 1984. The original shingle roof has been replaced with sheet metal.