Covered Bridge Projects

Parvin Road Covered Bridge

The Parvin Road Covered Bridge that spans Lost Creek in Lane County Oregon was originally built in 1921 for $3600.00, replacing the original bridge that had been erected in the 1880’s.  This 75 foot Howe truss is one of 50 covered bridges in the state of Oregon.  In the mid 1970’s the bridge was bypassed due to highway realignment and restricted to pedestrian traffic only.  In 1986, the bridge was reopened to vehicular traffic and dedicated to the Parvin family which homesteaded the area in the mid 1800’s.  It has since been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Portland Bolt was called upon to manufacture 1-3/8” and 1-3/4” x 20+ foot, high strength rods to reinforce the bridge.  We also fabricated ½” and 3/4” galvanized lag screws with domestic steel to provide full certification documents.  Although this was a county project, not an ODOT job, the county required all fasteners and hardware be 100% melted and manufactured in the United States.  With Portland Bolt’s large inventory of domestic nuts and round bar, we were able to provide material to the job site in two weeks accompanied with clear and concise mill test reports via automatically generated emails that were quickly signed off on and kept the job moving on time.

Steven Wallenstein

• Phone: (800) 598-4204
• Email: steven@portlandbolt.com

Chambers Railroad Covered Bridge

In 1925, J.H. Chambers constructed a bridge to transport logs across the Coast Fork Willamette River to his sawmill on the east side of the bridge. The bridge was operational until 1951, when the bridge was sold for scrap. The bridge's full ownership was secured by the City of Cottage Grove and is listed on the National Historic Register. The Chambers Railroad Bridge is the only remaining covered Railroad Bridge in Oregon and is believed to be one of only two remaining west of the Mississippi River.

After a storm in January of 2010, there was an emergency declared due to the bridge being in danger of imminent collapse. There was significant damage and decay and the bridge was leaning to the upper river side. There was a concern that if restoration work didn't happen immediately, Oregon's only remaining covered railroad bridge would be lost forever. In February 2010, the Cottage Grove City Council declared it an emergency and authorized the immediate dismantling of the bridge.

Due to the re-construction of the bridge being an urgent matter, Portland Bolt was contact directly by the contractor hired to do the work in regards to the bolts required. Being that this was an Oregon Department of Transportation job, all of the bolts and fasteners needed to be 100% melted and manufactured in the USA. The bolts required for this job consisted of 1-1/4" x 23-1/2 foot long rods as well as over 20 different sizes of square head bolts, square head lag bolts, carriage bolts and 90 degree bent anchor bolts, all needing to be 100% domestically made and hot-dip galvanized. It is common for square head bolts to be used on these types of structures due to owners wanting to keep the rustic, traditional look, however trying to find domestic square head bolts in lengths ranging up to 46" in length, as well as hot-dip galvanized is not an easy task. Portland bolt has the manufacturing capabilities to custom make every item required for this job in-house, which made the job very easy for the contractor doing the work. Also, since Oregon Department of Transportation inspectors are inspecting bolts at Portland Bolt on a daily basis, the fasteners were packaged, tagged and ready for installation as soon as the bolts arrived at the job site.

Anthony Porreco

• Phone: (800) 599-6926
• Email: anthony@portlandbolt.com

Image courtesy of Dave Spengler

West Liberty Street Bridge

The covered bridge capital of Ohio is adding another covered bridge.

Ashtabula County in north east Ohio is adding its 18th covered bridge, the West Liberty Street Bridge. Already home to the longest covered bridge in the United States (Smolen-Gulf Bridge), this new bridge will be the shortest covered bridge in the United States at 18' long. Portland Bolt has the distinction of supplying all of the bolts for both of these projects. All products are hot dip galvanized and 100% domestic. The truss rods for this project are 1-1/2 x 20' A572 grade 50 and the timber bolts are 5/8" and 3/4" diameter. We also supplied galvanized high strength all thread rod and lag bolts and shipped the entire order in less than 3 weeks.

The West Liberty Street Covered Bridge is being constructed almost entirely of locally sawn, donated local timber and is being fabricated with local labor by students at the Ashtabula County Joint Vocational School.

Gary Rusynyk

• Phone: (800) 599-7838
• Email: gary@portlandbolt.com

Worrall Covered Bridge

The Worrall Covered Bridge, located a few miles from Rockingham, Vermont, is a lattice style bridge spanning 87 feet over the Williams River. Originally built in 1868, the bridge was considered in need of repair in 2008 by the National Covered Bridge Preservation Project. After receiving federal funds for improvements and repairs, the bridge received many upgrades including increased fire retardation, replacement of timbers, structural preservation and a new bridge approach. In May of 2010, Portland Bolt supplied custom galvanized carriage bolts, timber bolts, hex bolts, threaded rods and plates that would be used in the new approach span. All of the bolts were domestically manufactured in house from start to finish, including the forging of the heads, threading and hot-dip galvanizing.

Kyle Pettijohn

• Phone: (800) 628-9472
• Email: kyle@portlandbolt.com

Medora Covered Bridge

In the spring of 2010, rehab work began on the Medora Covered Bridge located just outside of Medora in Jackson County, Indiana. According to the National Register of Historic Places, the Medora Covered Bridge is the longest historic covered bridge in the United States. The length of the bridge is approximately 431 feet from abutment to abutment; however the roof of the bridge stretches to approximately 462 feet. The bridge was originally built in 1875 and spans the East Fork of the White River. When the bridge was originally built, the arches were put together in eight sections, with the six sections in the center being approximately 20 feet long by 1 foot, 4 inches high. The last two sections are even larger as they join the abutments and piers. With its Triple Span Burr Arch construction with King Posts, this bridge originally took nine months to construct.

In March of 2010, the contractor in charge of renovating the Medora Covered Bridge contacted Portland Bolt to provide the various bolts and fasteners required. Because of the renovation being paid for in part by Federal Stimulus money, the bolts and fasteners required needed to be 100% melted and manufactured in the USA. This was nothing out of the ordinary since often times Portland Bolt is involved in federally funded projects, but the requirement we found unique was the need for ¾" diameter by 9" to 25" long A449 square head bolts. Square head bolts are used to keep the historic, original feel to an aged structure that a hex head bolt doesn't, but being made to a high strength specification such as ASTM A449 was quite unique. The bolts were manufactured and shipped in a timely fashion to help keep the bridge on schedule to be completed near Christmas 2010.

See a video about the restoration and the completion of this bridge.

Anthony Porreco

• Phone: (800) 599-6926
• Email: anthony@portlandbolt.com

Photo courtesy of Anthony Dillon

Moscow Covered Bridge

The town of Moscow, Indiana was hit by a tornado in June of 2008 and its historic covered bridge, built in 1886, was completely destroyed. The bridge was 340 feet long and spanned the Big Flatrock river. Around one third of the original timbers were salvaged and work was started on a new bridge in November, 2009.

In January of 2010, Portland Bolt received a request for almost 1,000 3/4" diameter square head bolts to be used in the construction of the new bridge. The bolts ranged from 22" to 36" in length and were to be supplied with square nuts to enhance the historical appearance of the new bridge. Lead-time for the supplies was critical because the bridge was being built in the middle of winter. We were able to ship the order within two weeks to the contractor on site so that the project could stay on track to be completed in the spring of 2010.

John Wunderlich

• Phone: (800) 599-2943
• Email: johnw@portlandbolt.com

Photo courtesy of David M. Pease

Pepperell Covered Bridge

In May of 2009, Portland Bolt received a request to manufacture and supply fasteners for the replacement of the Pepperell Covered Bridge in Pepperell, Massachusetts. The original Pepperell Bridge was built over the Nashua River around 1742 and has been rebuilt or replaced several times throughout its history. The most recent structure was built in 1963, but was in serious need of replacement due to rusting of the support structure and general wear and tear.

When it is completed in 2010, the new structure will weigh 475,000 pounds, be made of 700 pieces of solid timber, and be 33 feet tall, with the longest span measuring 95 feet. Portland Bolt manufactured over 3,000 pieces of galvanized domestic fasteners including square head lag bolts, dome head bolts, and high strength rods for the project. In addition, we supplied over 20,000 pieces of hardware to accompany the manufactured bolts. All items arrived on site within the time frame specified by the contractor with full material certification.

John Wunderlich

• Phone: (800) 599-2943
• Email: johnw@portlandbolt.com

Photo courtesy of Phil Hinton

Putney Memorial Sky Bridge

The Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia finished construction on a new 105 foot long sky bridge in December 2008. The structure connects an addition of the main hospital to a multi-story parking garage. The wooden framed covered bridge weighs 100,000 pounds and stands 16 feet above the roadway.

Portland Bolt supplied a number of long tie rod assemblies, including rods over 13 feet long. We also worked with the contractor to accommodate special material requirements.

Anthony Porreco

• Phone: (800) 599-6926
• Email: anthony@portlandbolt.com

Courtesy of the Ashtabula County Convention & Visitors Burea

Smolen-Gulf Covered Bridge

We always like to supply bolts for unusual projects, and the Smolen-Gulf Bridge is no exception. In August of 2006, construction began on a covered bridge to replace an existing steel bridge over the Ashtabula River in northern Ashtabula County. When completed, the bridge's total length of 613 feet easily eclipsed the previous record length of 449 feet, making it the longest covered bridge in the United States.

The contractor working on the job contacted us in June of 2007 and asked us to supply bolts and tie rods for the project. We were able to manufacture and ship over 4,000 large heavy hex bolts, 2,300 lag bolts, and 1,600 tie rods within a month. All product was galvanized and the tie rods were shipped assembled to the job site over 2,000 miles away.

John Wunderlich

• Phone: (800) 599-2943
• Email: johnw@portlandbolt.com