Buskirk Covered Bridge, Hamlet of Buskirk New York
- Categories:
- New York
- Covered Bridges
- Howe Truss
The Buskirk span continues in its original use as a vehicular bridge.
The Howe truss type is represented in Washington County by the bridges at Buskirk and at Rexleigh. The Buskirk Bridge, erected to replace an earlier Burr arch truss across the Hoosic, was constructed in 1850 by a builder from nearby Greenwich. The Buskirk span is presently maintained under joint agreement by Washington and Rensselaer Counties, and is perhaps the earliest Howe truss bridge surviving in New York State.
The bridge is 160 long and 16 feet wide with two lanes.
The final major timber truss design to achieve widespread popularity during the late nineteenth century was first patented in 1840 by William Howe (1803-1852). The Howe truss consisted of horizontal timber top and bottom chords and diagonal wood compression members combined with vertical tension members made of wrought iron. The ends of the iron tensions rods were threaded and secured to iron shoes at the panel points of the web. The inherent properties of wood and iron as construction materials were effectively used in Howe's truss; this hybrid truss became the most widely constructed, standard American timber bridge form of the nineteenth century. The Rexleigh (1874) and Buskirk (1850) Covered Bridges in Washington County and the Jay Covered Bridge (1857), Essex County, are Howe truss structures.
Looking south (1976)
Detail of panel connection, upper cord (1976)
