Powerscourt Covered Bridge

Percy Covered Bridge Pont Percy - Powerscourt
View (August 2005) looking upriver, from the West bank (Elgin)
Coordinates	45°00′31″N 74°09′34″W / 45.00871°N 74.15953°WCoordinates: 45°00′31″N 74°09′34″W / 45.00871°N 74.15953°W
Carries	2-lane road (reduced to one lane + 2 sidewalks in 2010)
Crosses	Chateauguay River
Locale	Between Elgin and Hinchinbrooke
Characteristics
Design	McCallum Truss
Total length	51 m (167 ft)
Width	6.2 m (20 ft)
Height	8 m (26 ft) to top
Longest span	26 m (85 ft)
Clearance above	3 m (9.8 ft)
History
Opened	1861
Statistics
Daily traffic	Automotive and pedestrian
National Historic Site of Canada
Official name	Powerscourt Covered Bridge National Historic Site of Canada
Designated	1984
Patrimoine culturel du Québec
Type	Classified heritage immovable
Designated	1987

The Powerscourt Covered Bridge, alternately known as the "Percy Covered Bridge" spans the Chateauguay River, between the municipalities of Elgin and Hinchinbrooke, in SouthWest Quebec.^[1]

Overview

A road bridge (now open only to light automotive traffic), it was constructed in 1861, and employs the McCallum inflexible arched truss, developed by Daniel McCallum. This extremely strong wooden truss was, until then, used only in the construction of railroad bridges across North America.

With the advent of steel replacing wood in railroad bridge construction in the second half of the 19th Century, all wooden railroad bridges were gradually replaced by steel ones. As it was not a railroad bridge, the Percy bridge remains to this day as an anomaly, and is the sole McCallum truss bridge left in the world.

It is the oldest covered bridge in Canada. Built only a year or so after the Victoria Bridge in Montreal, the Percy bridge, unlike the Victoria, still retains its original shape, its original architecture, and indeed most of its original materials to this day. Using these criteria, it may be argued that the Percy bridge is the oldest bridge in Canada, covered or otherwise.

Recognition

The Powerscourt Covered Bridge was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1984 because:

• it is the only known example of a McCallum inflexible arched truss bridge still in existence;
• it is one of the oldest covered bridges that exists in Canada.^[2]

The bridge was also named an Historic Monument of Quebec in 1987.^[3]

Construction Details

The Powerscourt Covered Bridge is the only McCallum Inflexible Arched Truss bridge extant in the world.
The unique curved roof line over the arched trusses distinguishes it from all other covered bridges.

See also

• Daniel McCallum, designer of the McCallum Truss
• Elgin, Quebec
• List of bridges in Canada

References

1. 1984 Report by Robert W. Passfield, HISTORIC SITES AND MONUMENTS BOARD OF CANADA
2. Powerscourt Covered Bridge National Historic Site of Canada. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
3. Pont couvert de Powerscourt. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 24 January 2012.

External links

• Powerscourt, website 2011
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. NY-332, "Powerscourt Bridge, Spanning Chateauguay River, First Concession Road, Elgin/Hichinbrooke, Huntingdon County, Quebec", 13 photos, 7 measured drawings, 8 data pages, 1 photo caption page