Such
bridges are found in rural areas throughout
the United States and Canada, but are
often threatened by arsonists, vandals,
and flooding. They are also common around
eastern Canada and in the United States
in places such as Chester County, Pennsylvania
and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Lane
County, Oregon, Madison County, Iowa and
Parke County, Indiana. Parts of Ohio,
Michigan, Kentucky, Maryland, and the
New England states also have surviving
covered bridges. Opened on July 4, 1901,
the 1,282 foot (390 meter) covered bridge
crossing the St. John River at Hartland,
New Brunswick, Canada, is currently the
longest covered bridge in the world. It
is a Canadian National Historic Site.
In 1900, New Brunswick had an estimated
400 covered bridges, and Quebec more than
1000, while Ontario had only had 5.
A
much longer covered bridge (5,960 feet)
between Columbia and Wrightsville, Pennsylvania
once spanned the mile-wide Susquehanna
River, making it the longest and most
versatile covered bridge in the world
during its existance. It featured railroad
tracks, a towpath for canal boats crossing
the river between two canals on either
bank, and a carriage / wagon / pedestrian
road. The popular tollbridge was burned
June 28, 1863, by Union militia during
the American Civil War to prevent its
usage by the Confederate Army of Northern
Virginia during the Gettysburg Campaign.
A replacement wooden covered bridge was
destroyed by a windstorm a few years later.
It was rebuilt as an open-air steel bridge.
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