ABSTRACT
A number of covered bridge societies exist that are concerned with the history and preservation of all types of covered bridges in the United States. In addition, engineers as early as the third decade of the 19th Century were interested in the analysis of various patented bridge truss systems. An understanding of the structure and its ability to resist loads, together with construction details, should be the primary consideration in evaluating these pioneering bridge systems. With little capital and an acute transportation problem facing the Republic, timber bridges were widely used, and numerous structural systems were developed from the time of the first large timber bridge by Enoch Hale in 1785 until the Civil War. In 1804, Theodore Burr built the Waterford Bridge over the Hudson River, consisting of four arch spans, one 154 feet, one 161 feet, one 176 feet, and the other 180 feet, clear spans.
