Rinard Covered Bridge, Marietta - Wingett Run Ohio
Rinard Bridge was built in 1876 by Smith Bridge Company for $13.50 per linear foot. Stonework by H.H. Townsend for $4.10 per perch. The historic name of the bridge was Hendershott's Ford Bridge. The bridge is now bypassed.
The Rinard Covered Bridge takes its name from one John Rinard, a livestock dealer who owned the land nearby when the bridge was built. Descendants of this family still own the land there today. According to the late Dr. H. B. Hune, who gave us much of our information on Washington County's Hune Covered Bridge (which is about two miles downstream from the Rinard Covered Bridge), the present Rinard Bridge is the second covered span on this sites As a small child Dr. Hune remembered seeing the first Rinard Bridge float past his father's farm on the floodwaters of 1874 or 1875. This was before the Hune Bridge was built. The original Smith Bridge Company specifications for the Rinard Bridge were drawn up in 1871 and we are left to guess whether or not the first covered bridge here was also a Smith truss that was rebuilt from the same plans after the flood. The Rinard Bridge is a popular local landmark. A local 4-H Club has kept the grass mowed around the bridge, planted flower beds, and maintained picnic tables at the bridge. The Rinard Bridge is just off heavily-traveled SR 26 and is a natural tourist attraction. The Rinard Covered Bridge is one of three old covered spans east of SR 26 over the Little Muskingum River east of Marietta, and each bridge is an interesting study in wooden bridge engineering as each is a different truss type. The Rinard Bridge is a very good example of the Smith truss, only 15 of which remain in Ohio today.
Bridge Description
The bridge is a one-span wooden truss covered bridge spanning the Little Muskingum River in Ludlow Township section 26 on county road 406 just east of SR 26 and two miles east of Wingett Run. This old span has vertical, high-boarded siding, a metal roof, cut-stone abutments, and straight portals.
This is known as the Rinard Covered Bridge and was built about 1875 by the Smith Bridge Company of Toledo, Ohio, using the Smith patent truss. This truss was patented in 1867 and again in 1869 by Robert W. Smith of Tipp City, later Toledo, Ohio. The 1869 patent, #97,714, features an all-wooden truss with an open center panel with the braces set at a 5 angle and the counterbraces set at a 60-degree angle. This truss also features rigidly fastened roof and floor stringers. Covered bridge truss expert, the late Raymond E. Wilson, divided the Smith truss into types according to construction variations. The Rinard Bridge he classed as a type 3 Smith truss, which is reinforced with 2 diagonals added in the center panel. The Rinard Bridge is a 12-panel Smith truss, 140' long overall with a clear span of 130' and a truss length of 111'. The roadway width is 14' and the overall width of the bridge is 17'. The height of the trusses is 16'1" and the overhead clearance is 13'. The truss members vary in size from 6" x 6" to 6" x 11" and the top chord is 3-5" x 10" and the lower chord is 4-5" x 12". There are small, open wooden approach spans on each end of the bridge.
The outward appearance of the Rinard Bridge seems to have changed little over the years. The bridge is unpainted. Its metal roof is undoubtedly a replacement for the original shingle roof. The small windows cut into the sides of this bridge are likely a later alteration as has been the case with other Ohio covered spans. Heavy steel cables have been added both inside and outside this bridge for additional strength. We do not know when these cables were added. The floor is laid transversely with raised wooden planks running the length of the bridge.
North portal, west side, looking southeast (1975)
