Wallkill Covered Bridge

The covered bridge was built on the Howe truss design - that used both timbers and vertical iron rods for supporting the loads. The iron rods usually had turnbuckles in them so that the bridge could be adjusted over time.

The Howe truss was a popular plan to construct railroad bridges and bridges of this type did not start appearing in numbers until around the Civil War and later when railroads were the rage.

William Howe truss patented his design in 1840 and extended the patents in 1850 so the Wallkill Covered Bridge was probably built sometime after 1850.

The province of New Brunswick has 60 or so Howe truss covered bridges still standing. It is an easy design and plan to build and mass produce.

-Sean McDermott

The tear down date of the old covered bridge (1915) was after the new concrete bridge was built in 1915

Entrance to the Concrete Covered Bridge in 1920. Note the Lights on the edges

Some time before 1937 the Ulster County highway took over the bridge and condemned it after inspection. The bridge had to be closed and rebuilt and a temporary bridge built using the stone pier of the covered bridge.

The hat factory with the temporary bridge in 1937