Barrackville Covered Bridge 48-25-02

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Photos

State historical marker

One can discern from the text that the marker was placed before the bridge was bypassed and retired. A temporary bypass bridge was built 1987 and the permanent bypass bridge was constructed in 1991.

Photo taken by J.R. Manning in October 2007

Map

Street View

Facts

Overview

Burr arch-truss bridge over Buffalo Creek

Location

Barrackville, Marion County, West Virginia

Status

Open to pedestrians

History

Built in 1853 by Eli & Lemuel Chenoweth; Bypassed 1987; ACROW pony truss inestalled 1991 due to deterioration; Renovated 1998

Builders

- Acrow Corporation of America of Parsippany, New Jersey (1991 temporary stabilization span)
- Eli Chenoweth
- Lemuel Chenoweth
- Orders Construction Co., Inc. of St. Albans, West Virginia (1998 Restoration.)

Design

"The Barrackville Covered Bridge is a single-span modified Burr arch truss wooden covered bridge on a drylaid sandstone abutment. The total length of the truss is 146'-3" with a clear span length of 131'-8". The truss is 11'-8" high center-to-center of the chords and 17'-11" wide center-to-center of the trusses, with a roadway width of 15'-6". Clapboard siding covers the exterior, and standing-seam metal roofing covers the gable roof.

"The bridge is poplar and oak framed in the manner patented by Theodore Burr in 1817. The principal structural components are a pair of hewn timber segmented arches framed into and around a pair of multiple kingpost trusses to create an indeterminate composite timber structure.

"Built as part of Virginia's network of turnpikes linking the Tidewater to the Trans-Allegheny regions, this example of the Burr truss demonstrates the high level of craftsmanship and knowledge of contemporary engineering design that went into many covered bridges."

-- Dennis M. Zembala, Historical American Engineering Record, 1995

Dimensions

Length of largest span: 132.0 ft.
Total length: 146.0 ft.
Deck width: 15.5 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 11.8 ft.

Recognition

Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 1973

Approximate latitude, longitude

+39.50598, -80.16793 (decimal degrees)
39°30'22" N, 80°10'05" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")

Approximate UTM coordinates

17/571535/4373258 (zone/easting/northing)

Quadrangle map:

Grant Town

Inventory numbers

NRHP 73001921 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 36243 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Update Log

June 19, 2017: Updated by Luke: Noted 1991 temporary ACROW pony truss and 1998 rehab
July 30, 2014: New Street View added by Ralph Demars
December 3, 2011: Updated by Tony Dillon: Fixed stream name as this is over Buffalo Creek and not Finch's Run
March 9, 2010: New photo from Robert Stephenson
August 9, 2008: Updated by J.R. Manning
August 1, 2008: New photos from J.R. Manning
February 10, 2008: Added by J.R. Manning

Sources

J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
HAER WV-8 - Barrackville Covered Bridge, Spanning Buffalo Creek on Pike Street , Barrackville, Marion County, WV
Robert Stephenson - seinfeld99 [at] yahoo [dot] com
Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
Wikipedia
Luke

Comments

Barrackville Covered Bridge

Posted March 27, 2012, by Ranea Seremetis (seremetis628 [at] comcast [dot] net)

BRIDGEHUNTER, i"m 44 years old and i grew up in the house beside of the BARRACKVILLE COVERED BRIDGE. It was and is the most beautiful bridge I've ever seen. I have beautiful pictures of it. As kids my sister and I played in it. We even camped underneath it. It was the safest place in the world to us. To me the bridge is like home. A laundrymat used to be beside it. We would go there and get a cream soda and sit on the large stones that are in front of the bridge. We would sit there and watch the cars go by. Barracville, what a wonderful home it was.Just wanted you to know how much I enjoy the Barrackville Covered Bridge. Thanks!