Scribner Covered Bridge, Johnson Vermont
- Categories:
- Vermont
- Covered Bridges
- Queenpost Truss
The Scribner Covered Bridge probably was built originally without its upper walls and roof, and therefore belongs among a small number of covered wood bridges in Vermont that have been rebuilt from open bridges. The trusses of the Scribner Bridge have only about half the usual height of queenpost trusses applied to bridges covered during original construction. The Scribner Bridge is one of three covered bridges remaining in the town of Johnson.
The covered bridges of Vermont are among its most cherished and symbolic historic resources. About one hundred of the bridges still stand in the state, the highest concentration by area of covered bridges in the United States.
Bridge Description
The Scribner Covered Bridge consists of a single span supported by two flanking timber modified queenpost trusses. The trusses rise less than half the height of the side walls of the bridge. Each truss incorporates iron suspension rods that connect its queenposts with the bottom chords. The trusses lack internal bracing, being bolted to the vertical posts of the enclosing "shed". Triangular steel plates have been added to the lower ends of the trusses to reinforce the joints between the diagonal members and the bottom chords.
The Scribner Bridge is 48 feet long and 17.5 feet wide, and has a 13.5-foot roadway. The wood floor, which consists of planks laid flat and perpendicular to the trusses, is 40 feet long; it begins four feet inside each portal. The approaches are concrete. The structure rests on abutments which in 1960 were rebuilt in concrete.
The post-and-beam shed which encloses the trusses is framed with timbers pegged together. On the exterior, it is sheathed with unpainted flush boards hung vertically. Similar siding protects the ends of the trusses immediately inside the portals. The siding stops short of the eaves to leave strip openings along the tops of the walls.
The gable ends are also sheathed with unpainted flush boards hung vertically. The portal openings are rectangular. The medium-pitch gable, roof, which does not overhang the gable ends, is covered with standing seam metal sheeting.
