Eagleville Covered Bridge, Eagleville New York
The ease of construction afforded local builders by the Town lattice truss explains its popularity in Washington County. At least eleven Town truss bridges are known to have spanned the Batten Kill during the nineteenth century. Of these eleven, only two examples remain in Washington County. The Eaglevllle Covered Bridge, erected by local builder Ephraim Clapp in 1858, has been stabilized and returned to vehicular use following flood damage in 1977. The Shushan Bridge, also built in 1858 by Milton Stevens, has survived as the result of local preservation efforts. Open to the public on a seasonal basis, the Shushan Covered Bridge presently houses a local history collection of artifacts. Both the Eaglevllle and the Shushan bridges are significant as typical examples of the Town lattice truss design as constructed in New York State during the nineteenth century.
The Eaglesville Bridge is 100 feet long and 16 feet wide.
A successful truss design nearly contemporary with the Burr truss was the Town lattice truss, patented in 1820 by the versatile builder/architect Ithiel Town (1784-1844). Consisting of a horizontal top and bottom chord connected by a web of closely spaced, alternating diagonal timbers, the Town lattice truss included no vertical members; the required stiffness was achieved by connecting the intersecting diagonals with wood pins. Carried on piers placed at intervals, bridges incorporating the Town lattice truss could span considerable distances. Its inherent strength coupled with its ease of construction made the Town truss design a popular design for highway and early railroad bridges until the post-Civil War era.
Looking west (1976)
Interior detail (1976)
