Blow-Me-Down Covered Bridge, Plainfield New Hampshire
Blow-Me-Down Covered Bridge is an example of the multiple Kingpost truss type covered bridge. It was built and designed by James F. Tasker (1826-1903) of Cornish, New Hampshire. Tasker was paid $528 for the work on this bridge in October 1877.
James Tasker is believed to have built the following bridges:
Kenyon Bridge, Cornish, NH
Blow-Me-Down Bridge, Cornish, NH
Dingleton Bridge, Cornish, NH
Meriden Bridge, Cornish, NH
Cornish-Windsor Bridge (with Bela Fletcher)
Stoughton Bridge, Windsor County, VT
Salmond's, Windsor County, VT
The National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, World Guide to Covered Bridges number for the Blow-Me-Down Covered Bridge is 29-10-10; the New Hampshire Department of Public Works and Highways Number is 071/168.
Bridge Description
Blow-Me-Down Covered Bridge is an excellent example of the multiple Kingpost Truss, all-wood covered bridge. It consists of a single span with an exterior length of 91 feet and exterior width of 16 1/2 feet. The actual deck or roadway is 85 feet in length and 14 feet wide.
The bridge rests on a natural stone ledge on both ends, with added dry-laid stone abutments for leveling. The bridge has been closed to traffic due to cracks in the abutment at the southern end of the bridge.
The truss contains twenty-four panels and twenty-five-panel posts on each side. The panel posts and top and bottom chords are joined together with iron bolts.
The portal is segmental/triangular in style and is sheathed with vertical butted boards, as is the entire exterior of the bridge. The gabled roof is covered with sheet metal, replacing earlier wooden shingles. The central rafter is joined to the ridge (roof) by a perpendicular post.
Southeast portal (1974)
