County Farm Covered Bridge, Dover New Hampshire
The County Farm Bridge appears to be the first bridge constructed on its site (although other earlier bridges spanned the Cocheco River closer to Dover center). It has a tradition of having been constructed from timbers which were milled in East Boston and arrived ready to assemble. A further distinguishing characteristic of the bridge is its unusually low-pitched roof; a bridge of very similar design and proportions (especially the almost flat roof) existed at Dover Point named the Old Dover Point Bridge which carried both a public road and a railroad bed. However, insufficient information was found to determine a builder, or manufacturer for either of these bridges.
The nearby Dover County Farm from which the bridge draws its name was established around 1866 with a large brick house being constructed in 1868. The purpose of the farm was to provide for the care of the County's poor, a responsibility which individual towns had born for their own citizens prior to this time. It seems possible that the success of the County farm in providing for the poor at less cost than had been formerly required, which resulted in the expansion of the farm, may also have brought about the construction of the covered bridge, which would have increased access to the farm from parts of the county other than Dover. The Dover City Assessors Office reported that the bridge was owned by the County until 1972 at which time it was transferred to the City of Dover. Although not mentioned in the financial reports of the manager of the County Farm, the bridge may have been constructed with other County funds.
Located in a rural section of Dover, it seems likely that the County Farm Bridge was constructed to serve the needs of the County Farm. At present, it serves very little traffic; however, with the completion of the Strafford County Courthouse less than one-half mile distant, it is likely that there will be an increase in usage.
Bridge Description
The County Farm Bridge spans the Cocheco River near its junction with the Isinglass River, connecting the town-owned County Farm Road on both banks. The road is paved on the east side of the river and for one hundred feet beyond the bridge on the west bank, after which it becomes a dirt road.
The bridge is one span of Howe truss design with an overall length of 112½' and a roadbed of 111½'. The truss consists of twelve panels each with two braces flanking one counter brace, these braces vary between 8" and 9" square and are iron bolted at their crossing. The braces and counter braces fit onto bearing blocks which are attached to the top and bottom chords. The chords are each made up of four members, each which are iron bolted together. Marking off the panels of the system are paired iron tension rods that extend from the top to the bottom chord, the intervals between the pairs are 9'. The truss is laterally braced by crossed diagonal bracing set into the side of the top chords.
The floor consists of 3" x 8" planks laid lengthwise to the roadbed; these planks rest on sixty-two 5" x 12" supports which are paired near the bridge's ends and are set on top of the bottom chord. The bottom chords are cross-braced at irregular intervals in the same manner as the top chords. The entrances have vertical clearances of 12'8" and are protected by vertical boarding which extends partway into the bridge's interior. The roof is extremely low in pitch, being 14½' at the sides and 15' at the ridge. It rests on triangularly cut supports and has no ridgepole. The roof has a 6-8" overhang at the side walls and appears to be covered by tar with lead flashing at the ridge and fascia. The truss walls are sheathed with irregular widths of boarding once painted red, but now largely weathered gray. The south side has many broken and missing boards.
The bridge rests on abutments of split granite laid up without mortar. At each corner of the bridge, the abutment has had a concrete footing added. At the northeast corner of the bridge there are two steel "I" beams (paired) extending out seven feet from the abutment to rest on top of a concrete support which is set on a rock ledge at the river's edge.
The bridge has been assigned the following numbers: 29-09-01 in the World Guide to Covered Bridges published by the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges; 055/145 by the New Hampshire Department of Public Works and Highways.
North wall (1974)
