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Latest Ohio Historic Bridge News

Bridges and

Byways

Journal of the

Ohio Historic Bridge Association Volume XXXII Number 1

Spring 2018

Meeting Notes: OHBA March 18, 2018, 1:30 pm Meeting Ohio History Connection Auditorium, 800 E. 17th Avenue, Columbus, OH (Exit 111 off Rt. 71) Speaker: Terry Miller: Swiss and Austrian Covered Bridges: the American Solution and Beyond (c1850 to present) May 20, 2018 Spring Bridge Tour TBA May 25, 2018, noon Bridge Dedication Boy Scout Camp at Falling Rock . See details on page 3. July 15, 2018, noon Summer Picnic at Salt Creek Covered Bridge. Located east of Zanesville off interstate 70 on Arch Hill Rd. (CR82). Bring a dish to share, your own silverware, plates, drinks, and lawn chair. September 16, 2018 Fall Bridge Tour TBA

Contents: The President’s Corner: David Simmons…….………........2-3 Bridge News …………..……..…..3-6 OHBA Officers and Membership Information…………………….......7 Renewal subscriptions were due by January 15, 2018. See page 7 for de-tails. Your mailing label has your sub-scription date at the top. The OHBA Web site is now available at www.oldohiobridges.com/new/OHBA OHBA is a not-for-profit organization incorpo-rated in the State of Ohio and is recognized as a non-profit organization under 501 (c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

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President’s Corner………………………..…………………………….David Simmons

Ohio’s Multiple Kingposts and Joseph Conwill

Off and on during the past year, I have been researching and writing about the remarkable grouping of three historic bridges at Falling Rock Camp in Licking County, northeast of Newark. One of them is a covered bridge that once stood on a nearby county road. We don’t know the build-er, but its design—a multiple kingpost (MKP)—provides an important clue. In Licking County, a MKP was popularly labeled a “Buckingham Truss” after the builder of the Y-Bridge in Zanesville, which used the same design. But there is something dis-tinctive about the Boy Scout camp bridge, known as the Pappy Hayes Bridge in memory of a for-mer area scout executive. It in-cludes a completely open center panel. I knew there were others in Ohio with an open center panel, and used the detailed inventory and photographic record of bridge interiors prepared by the late John Diehl along with Miriam Wood’s research files on Licking County, I was able to determine that Simon Shrake was a builder from north-ern Licking County who built simi-lar bridges during the 1870s. Born on a farm in Fallsburg Town-ship in 1846, he likely learned his trade from his carpenter father. So, having determined the date and possible builder of the bridge, I wanted to know how unique such open panels were in the universe of American covered bridges. I immediately thought of Joseph Conwill, the late editor of the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges Topics. In some ways, Joseph was still living in the nineteenth century, as he had never bought a

home computer and only did email through a local library. Knowing this, I sent a snail mail letter to his farm in Maine. As was typical, upon receiv-ing it, he immediately sat down and handwrote a response on the back of my letter. He was concerned that a snowstorm was headed his way, and he might be delayed getting back to the post office. And as was also typical, the answer was thorough even though he clearly was preparing it from memory. To my knowledge, there was not a single element of covered bridge history anywhere in North America on which Joseph had not studied or thought about deeply. He was virtually a walking encyclopedia of covered bridge history, and we will likely never know his equal. His unexpected death in July 2017 was a severe loss for us all.

Joseph Conwill

The covered bridge at Falling Rock Camp is named for Harold “Pappy” Hayes, the long-time executive director of the Licking Coun-ty Boy Scout Council. David Simmons, Photo

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All of which is to say that we are fortunate that Joseph wrote his response when he did. “The open center panel in the MKP is really an Ohio spe-cialty,” he responded. Then he went on to speculate about its rationale. “There seems to be no obvious explanation; one might guess a slight savings of material, but this seems inade-quate . . . Most likely the build-ers were copying some early local prototype.” Not satisfied with assuming builders would blindly follow an earlier prece-dent, Joseph wondered if “builders preferred to work with a standard panel length and rather than vary it, they insert-ed an empty center panel if the length of the site required it.” He proposed gathering meas-urements of examples to de-termine if the panel lengths, indeed, remained constant. That did not, of course, “explain why the builders thought an empty panel was acceptable in the first place.” Outside Ohio, the MKP had “a full complement of braces,” but he concluded that “the Ohio phenomenon is difficult to explain but it can be presented with pride as a true regional spe-cialty.” It will remain for others to explore the theory he suggested.

The open center panel in the Pappy Hayes Bridge is an im-portant clue to its builder and something unique to Ohio. David Simmons, Photo

Bridge News………………..Elma Lee Moore, Doug Miller and David Simmons Falling Rock Boy Scout Camp Bridge Dedication Ceremony……...…………...David Fryman Please celebrate the dedication of our newly restored historic bridge on Friday May 25th at Noon. We are excited to show off the latest addition to the camp. Come learn about the histori-cal significance of the three bridges from David Simmons, President of the Ohio Historic Bridge Association. You can also meet some of the people who made this dream a reality. Following the dedication, we will have lunch and ongoing slide shows of the project. Please RSVP by May 19th so we can have some food for you to Dave Fryman 740-403-3757 or d7422@yahoo.com. Directions: From Newark Rt 16 take St Rt 79 N at the Cedar St exit. Head North about 9.7 miles and turn left on Rocky Fork Road NE. You will soon come to a fork in the road, bear left and cross a bridge. Continue on Rocky Fork Rd for approximately 1.5 miles. Turn left on Swick-Holton Rd, go over the bridge and turn left into the old camp entrance. (This route takes you past the new bridge and brings you in the old access road. When leaving you will be allowed to cross the new bridge)

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Bridge News Continued

Chinese Covered Bridges Destroyed by Typhoon Rebuilt………………………...David Simmons Late in 2016, we re-ported on the unprecedent-ed flooding in Taishun County, Zhejiang Province, China, that came in the wake of Typhoon Meranti. It destroyed three of the wo-ven-arch covered bridges visited in November 2013 by the delegation of Ameri-cans that I led. Even as we were reporting on the loss-es, a remarkable and spon-taneous operation to rebuild them had begun in the prov-ince. Some of our mem-bers made contributions that were wired to the Wen-zhou Covered Bridge Cul-ture Society for the rebuild-ing effort. By acting quickly, volunteers and officials were able to salvage 85% of the

bridges’ wooden components. Fortunately, all the bridges had been well docu-mented in photographs that pro-vided guides for the reconstruc-tion. Each bridge was rededi-cated through a “circle ceremo-ny” that wound through and around the bridges themselves. Ji Haibo, director of the Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage in Taishun County, told a report-er that he has loved these bridg-es since childhood, and that he hoped their efforts in the re-building will foster similar feel-

ings within future generations.

The Wenxing Bridge was originally built in 1857. Within a year following its destruction in a 2016 flood, it was being rebuilt from salvaged and new mate-rial. A testament to the care with which the work was done is the fact that the “unbalanced” character of the original bridge was duplicated in the recon-struction.

An elaborate “circle” ceremony was held in the summer of 2017 as part of the rededication of the reconstructed Wenxing Bridge. The bridge sits in vast fields of black mushrooms.

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Bridge News Continued

Salt Creek Bridge Update………………………………………………..……………David Simmons

At the summer picnic, our French visitor not-ed that the northwest corner of the bridge was get-ting undermined by the little creek that comes down the hill. I’m sure the volume of water has increased during storms with all the heavier, climate-change-induced rainfall we have been getting throughout the Midwest. So I arranged to have Ed Shaw of Shaw & Holter do some repair work on the bridge. He has a long and reputable record of working on covered bridges. He did some work for us the last time the abutment was getting under-mined. That time I asked him to replace the bottom stone

that was getting eroded away with another sandstone block. That stone has been totally eroded away. In fact, as it turns out, if we had waited much longer the entire corner would have slipped away. I told Ed to use concrete this time since the earlier stone repair had totally disappeared. Attached are three pictures showing that work. I was shocked at how bad the cor-ner was once they dug it out. They said most of what they pulled out was mud. We were dangerously close to a total failure! They also put in a lot of dump rock to

counter all the erosion. Then they plan to return with new poplar siding and replace the portions where flood debris

has damaged the siding on the lower chord. Altogether, the work will cost $10,588.

While observing the work, I was impressed by the care the crew took in covering the corner of the bridge and abutment with plastic to protect from concrete splashes. A less-experienced or less-careful contractor might not have taken that effort.

Ohio Covered Bridge Week……………………………………….…………………..Elma Lee Moore

State Representative John Patterson (D-Jefferson) recently introduced Ohio legislation to desig-nate the second week of October as “Ohio Covered Bridge Week.” The date coincides with the Ashtabula Covered Bridge Festival. Patterson stated that “Ohio Covered Bridge Week would rec-ognize the importance of our state’s historic covered bridges and raise awareness for the need to ensure their preservation. “ The legislation seeks to promote Ohio’s unique tourist attractions and to educate generations through the celebration of the state’s shared history.

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Bridge News Continued Riverside Cemetery Bridge Restoration…………………………………..……….Elma Lee Moore The Riverside Cemetery bridge at Poland in Mahoning County is slated for restoration. Known also as the Riverside Drive Bridge, the White Bridge and the Poland Bridge, this span is of his-toric significance. The designer was Dr. William Rezner of Cleveland who patented the bowstring design in 1872. Rezner (a physician) patented an earlier design with others in 1867. His 1872 pa-tent featured an improved portion of a “shoe de-sign.” This tubular bowstring arch truss of rare design was constructed in 1877 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton Ohio. The cast and wrought iron bridge was once the main thor-oughfare between the Mahoning River and New Castle, PA. It spans Yellow Creek on Riverside Drive. The bridge is 129.9 ft. in length and 17.1 ft. in width. It is currently open to foot traffic.

The design was used for many bridges across the U.S. at that time. However, the Cemetery Bridge is one of only three remaining examples of Rezner’s design. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Other remaining bridges of Rezner’s design are (1) the Hoyt

Street Bridge(1870) in Beatrice Gage County Nebraska, and (2) the Rezner Bowstring Bridge(1871) in Rensselaer, Jasper County Indiana. The restoration project will take place over several years. The total cost of the project is esti-mated to be $208,000. The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) through a grant will cover over 80 percent of the estimated cost. The city of Poland will be responsible for the remaining $41,600. The village is also responsible for the full cost of the specifications and design work at $18,000. The Ohio Historic Bridge Association at its November 2017 meeting, voted to donate $10,000 to assist the village in its share of the project. (Photos: Bridgehunters.com)

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OHBA Officers & Membership Information President: David Simmons, Ohio History Connection, Timeline Office, 800 E. 17th Ave., Colum-bus, OH 43211-2494, 614-297-2365 (work) dsimmons@ohiohistory.org 740-965-4023 (home) 1

st VP: Edmund Chapdelaine, 217 E. Main St., West Lafayette, OH 43845,

740-545-6696 schapdelaine@sbcglobal.net 2

nd VP: Douglas D. Miller, 7228 Pineview Dr., Englewood, OH 45322-2600 937-832-0817

(home) dmiller94@woh.rr.com 3

rd VP: Elma Lee Moore, 4489 Choctaw Trail, Jamestown, OH 45335 937-675-9115 (home)

elmphd@aol.com Treasurer: Joseph W. Charles, Jr., 726 Newark-Granville Rd., Granville, OH 43023-1451, 740-587-2266, jdcharles@windstream.net Corres. Sec’y: Miriam Wood, c/o Howard Wood,5995 Springburn Dr., Dublin OH 43017 Rec. Sec’y: Ellen Rupp, 612 Glenridge Pl., Columbus, OH 43214, 614-847-9634 mailellen-too@yahoo.com Trustees: Ken & Linda Cash, 1657 Spruce St., Zanesville, OH 43701, 740-453-3840 Editor of Bridges & Byways: Elma Lee Moore, 4489 Choctaw Trail, Jamestown, OH 45335 937-675-9115 elmphd@aol.com Web Master: Pat Hoffmannbeck, 2457 Willis Rd., Dublin, Oh 43016, 614-579-3823 phoffmannb@gmail.com ——————————————————————————————————————————— Dues: Senior (age 55 and over) $8; Student $8; Single $10; Family $15; Contributing $25; Sup-porting $40; Life $250. Annual dues include subscription to Bridges & Byways, quarterly journal of the OHBA. Dues period is the calendar year. Dues paid after October 1

st cover the succeeding

year. Renewal dues to be paid by 1/15. Please fill out the membership application form below and send it with your check made out to the OHBA to Mr. Joseph Charles at 726 Newark-Granville Rd., Granville, OH 43023-1451. Be sure to include your 9 digit zip code. ——————————————————————————————————————————— I wish to join/renew (circle) membership with the OHBA. My name is ______________________________________________________________________ My mailing address is ________________________________________________________________________

City_________________________ State________ Zip Code( 9 digit)_________________ My email address is _______________________________________________________ Enclosed is my check made out to the OHBA in the amount of ________for a _______ year membership.

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50 year anniversary of the collapse of the Silver Bridge (December 15, 1967), spanning the Ohio River between Kanauga, Ohio and Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Forty-six people perished. The collapse, caused by erosion and ne-glect, led to national requirements for periodic bridge inspections and safety regulations. (Photos Source: Bridgehunters.com)