Red Covered Bridge - Chaffee Bridge, Morristown Vermont

Date added: June 28, 2024
East elevation and south portal (1974)

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The Red Covered Bridge is the only covered wood bridge remaining in the town of Morristown, and one of the last covered bridges built in Vermont (1896). The bridge has a structural design of modified queenpost trusses which is unique among the covered bridges in the state. The Red Bridge crosses Sterling Brook above a scenic narrow gorge whose upper walls of exposed bedrock provide natural abutments for the bridge.

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 Red Covered Bridge consists of a single span supported by two flanking timber modified queenpost trusses. In 1897 (one year after the construction of the bridge) several iron rods were added to each truss for reinforcement following damage by wind. In 1971 the timber deck structure was replaced with two steel beams carrying a reinforced concrete deck. The timber trusses remain intact although they carry only the superstructure of the bridge. The bottom chords of the trusses are noteworthy, each being built of twelve layers of planks bolted together.

The Red Bridge is 64 feet long at floor level. The gable ends project five feet beyond the floor at each portal. The bridge is 18.5 feet wide and has a 15-foot roadway. It rests on abutments which in 1971 were mostly rebuilt in concrete; the short north abutment stands on the exposed bedrock of the north wall of the gorge beneath the bridge.

On the exterior, the timbers bolted together to form the trusses (and side walls) of the bridge are sheathed with flush boards hung vertically and painted red. The siding covers also the diagonal braces which support the projecting gable ends. 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 flush boards hung vertically and painted red. The portal openings are rectangular except for the diagonal upper struts. The medium-pitch gable roof, which does not overhang the gable ends, is covered with corrugated metal sheeting.

Red Covered Bridge - Chaffee Bridge, Morristown Vermont East elevation and south portal (1974)
East elevation and south portal (1974)

Red Covered Bridge - Chaffee Bridge, Morristown Vermont Interior toward south, showing west truss (1974)
Interior toward south, showing west truss (1974)