Hokes Mill Covered Bridge, Roncerverte West Virginia
In 1897, during the April term of the Greenbrier County Court, it was ordered that B. F. Mann, R. A. McDowell and Austin B. Erwin be appointed commissioners to have a covered bridge built on stone abutments across Second Creek above Smith's Mill (formerly Hoke's Mill) for a cost of $700.00. The court records do not pinpoint the date of the completion of the bridge, but various drafts were issued between the terms of January 1898 and March 1899 for road repairs in the Irish Corner district. A draft for $175.00 was the only one specifically referenced to the construction of the bridge. Therefore, the bridge was probably completed between April 1897 and March 1899.
The Hokes Mill Covered bridge is one of Greenbrier Counties' two remaining covered bridges, and has a superstructure consisting of a modified version of the patented Long truss. The bridge is in a deteriorating condition, and although the two large wide flange beams help to support the bridge, they have adversely affected its aesthetic value and historic integrity.
Bridge Description
The Hokes Mill Covered Bridge is 12 feet wide and measures 81.6 feet between the insides of the end posts. It has board-and-batten siding painted barn red and a standing seam metal roof. The truss is a modified Long truss.
The three 11-foot 10-inch high center panels of variable lengths contain double diagonals consisting of two-4 x 8-inch members and 45 x 8-inch single diagonals, which fit between and are pinned to the double diagonals. The 9 foot 8-inch long panel has a double diagonal made up of two 44 x 7-inch members and a 4 x 6-inch single diagonal. The end diagonals are secured to the bottom chord, which consists of three 4 x 94-inch members, by the bolt and rod system. Shear keys, which are small 2 x 3-inch blocks of wood that fit into notches made between the bottom chord members, help to transfer shear uniformly along the bottom chord.
The major modifications to the bridge include the replacement of the wooden transverse floor beams with steel girders and the addition of two wide flange beams, a W 36 x 194 and a W 36 x 182, which have been placed at either side of the deck and extend along the length of the bridge.
Downstream side elevation (1979)
