Stony Brook Covered Bridge, Northfield Vermont
- Categories:
- Vermont
- Covered Bridges
- Kingpost Truss
The Stony Brook Covered Bridge is the last covered wood bridge supported by kingpost trusses to have been built on a public highway in Vermont. The bridge was constructed by John Moseley in 1899, only five years before the end of the historic period of covered bridge construction on public highways in the state which began about 1820. The Stony Brook Bridge is one of five bridges remaining on public highways in the town of Northfield, the second highest concentration by town of such bridges in Vermont.
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 Stony Brook Covered Bridge consists of a single span supported originally by two flanking timber kingpost trusses. The timber deck structure has been replaced by five longitudinal steel beams, with floor planks laid on edge directly on the steel beams and transverse to them. The timber trusses now carry only the superstructure of the bridge.
The Stony Brook bridge is 36.5 feet long and 19 feet wide and has a 16-foot roadway. The structure rests on abutments built of stone blocks laid dry in nearly regular courses; they have been capped with concrete.
On the exterior, the heavy 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 stops short of the eaves to leave strip openings along the tops of the walls Similar siding protects the ends of the trusses immediately inside the portals.
The gable ends are sheathed with boards-and-battens hung vertically and painted red. The portal openings are rectangular with diagonal upper corners. The medium-pitch gable roof is covered with asphalt shingles.
