Meems Bottom Covered Bridge, Mt. Jackson Virginia
Meems Bottom Bridge, a 204-foot single-span covered bridge is the longest of the remaining covered bridges in the Commonwealth. The bridge is noted for the high quality of both its timber and masonry construction, as well as for its unusually scenic setting.
The bridge is of the Burr Truss or Kingspost Arch construction patented in 1817 by Theodore Burr, brother of Aaron Burr, and was constructed in 1894 under the supervision of F. W. Wisler. The date is inscribed on the stone facing of the east abutment.
The bridge replaces three earlier structures. The first bridge was constructed in 1867-1868, and was destroyed by a flood in March 1870. A second bridge was in place by 1871. This was washed away by a flood in November 1877. The third bridge at this location was constructed in 1878 and was replaced in 1894 by the fourth, currently standing bridge.
Bridge Description
The Meems Bottom Bridge is a 204-foot single-span Burr Truss covered bridge spanning the North Fork of the Shenandoah River south of the town of Mount Jackson. It survives in a good state of repair and is used daily by local traffic. Erected 1893-1894, the bridge is supported by massive stone abutments that fan out from the bridge on each side of the river and extend ten feet below the bed of the river. The rectangular cut limestone blocks were quarried locally. The bridge's timbers of rough, sawn pine were cut and fashioned on Strathmoor, the farm of General G.S. Meems, who accompanied Stonewall Jackson in the West Virginia campaign of 1861-1862. The bridge's Burr Truss or Kingspost Arch form of construction consists of two wood arches spanning the 204-foot distance between the abutments and joining them eight feet below the top of the stonework. Both arches are composed of three, 7" x 15" members, bolted together by three-quarter-inch diameter bolts to act as a single member. The bolts are placed at each point of the arches where they intersect a vertical, horizontal or lateral vertical bracing member.
The vertical truss supports are 8" x 10" members. All diagonal truss members are 7" x 9" members. The horizontal roof members that span between the arches are 8" x 10" members. The horizontal bottom chord that supports the roadway is composed of two 7" x 12" beams. The 4" x 14" floor beams that span between the arches on top of the bottom chord once supported the original road bed. In 1937, strengthening of the bridge was accomplished with seven-inch steel I-beams being installed parallel with the bottom chords extending the length of the structure. A new roadway surface was then placed over the original. Steel I-beams were also installed parallel to the original floor beams resting adjacent to the vertical truss members below the road bed.
The top chords run perpendicular to the vertical truss members the length of the structure at the top of the walls. Each top chord is composed of two 7" x 10" members bolted to the vertical members situated between them.
The arches are tied together by lateral bracing members above the walls and below the roadbed that cross between the vertical members and bolt into them.
