Gorham Covered Bridge, Proctor Vermont
- Categories:
- Vermont
- Covered Bridges
- Town Lattice Truss
One of four covered wood bridges remaining in the town of Pittsford, the Gorham Bridge was built in 1841 by Abraham Owen and Nicholas M. Powers. Powers, who became Vermont's most famous covered bridge builder, served his apprenticeship under Owen. The Gorham Bridge represents a later collaboration of the two master builders. Of the many bridges that Powers built during a career of more than forty years, only the Gorham and two other bridges survive in Vermont.
The covered bridges of Vermont are among its most cherished and symbolic historic resources. About one hundred bridges still stand in the state, the greatest concentration by area of covered bridges in the country.
Bridge Description
The Gorham Covered Bridge is a single span supported by two flanking timber Town lattice trusses. Two laminated stringers have been tie-bolted to the underside of the floor beams parallel to the trusses to reinforce the structure; each stringer comprises several shorter timbers that have been tie-bolted together. Steel knee braces have been added to the upper cross bracing for lateral support. The abutments are constructed of stone slabs without mortar; they have been overlaid with concrete caps.
The Gorham Bridge measures 114 feet along the bottom of the trusses. The upper ends of the trusses extend outward so that the gable ends overhang the roadway seven feet at each portal. The bridge is 21 feet wide, with an 18-foot roadway. The wood floor begins five feet inside each portal, and consists of planks laid flat and diagonal to the trusses.
On the exterior, the large planks pegged together diagonally to form the trusses (and side walls) of the bridge are sheathed with flush boards hung vertically. Similar siding protects the ends of the trusses immediately inside the portals. There are no windows in the side walls, though the siding stops short of the eaves to leave a strip opening along the top of each side of the bridge. The gable ends are also sheathed with flush vertical boards. The gable roof is now covered with corrugated metal sheeting.
Looking northwest (1973)
