Maryland Covered Bridge Tour

Under the direction and inspiration of Will Truax, join us in Bayview Maryland for an intensive day of bridge watching, followed by an evening of campfire merriment and primitive camping.

Join us On Saturday September 19th in Bayview Maryland for a tour of the historic Gipin House ca. 1732, a walk-through of a Covered Bridge rehabilitation in process, and an afternoon of exploring the area and a number of nearby Covered spans in Cecil County Maryland & Chester County Pennsylvania

The crew restoring Cecil County Maryland's Gilpin's Falls Covered Bridge, Tim Andrews of Barns & Bridges of New England, Will Truax of The Truax Timberwright Woodworks, and Jeremy Woodliff of New World Restorations, wish to extend an invitation to an open house of the project and the adjacent Gilpin property (original home to the miller and sawyer who developed the Falls and one of the oldest surviving homes in the county) where the offsite cutting is taking place, and additionally a tour of five other Covered Bridges in the immediate vicinity.

The day will begin with at 9:30 AM with a walk-through of the Gilpin House, the project bridge, a 119 ft Burr Truss dating from 1860. We will then visit the shop where a slide presentation of the work on this and other bridges can be viewed, and a round table dicussion on Covered Bridge construction and restoration will take place.

The tour of neighboring bridges will commence late morning, with a stop for lunch along the route.

All of the Bridges on the tour are of the Burr Truss type, though as is common to the Burr, there is great variation in the framing on the six bridges on the route. There is also great variation in the care, maintenance, and rehabilitation the various bridges have seen in their years of service, and the tour could be seen as a case study of both.

The tour will wind its way back to the Gilpin house by 5:30 PM for retrival of vehicles and goodbyes. Or, campspace is available there for any wishing to spend the evening, and we do hope some of you might wish to take in one of the local crabshacks with us. or we could perhaps arrange for delivery of several bushels should enough campers have interest. A list of area hotels can also be provided for those less inclined to rough it.

Cecil County was once home to (one end) of some of the most storied wooden spans ever built, and bridges formerly stood here built by some of history's greatest bridgewrights, Wernwag, Parker & Powers, and My Burr himself built his final bridge here in 1818, an 18 span 4,170 ft behemoth at Port Deposit.

So, the area is home to great tradition in timber bridge building, we do hope you'll join us for a small sampling of some of it.

The tour will convene at 1246 Northeast Rd. Northeast MD 21901 - Exit 100 off I-95, N on MD 272 (Northeast Rd) 1.5 Mi, to a Right just after the Gilpin Falls Bridge.

Happy to entertain questions about the tour or inquiries about camping, evenings at 410-656-0015 or anytime at Bridgewright@gmail.com

Please let us know that you are coming.

When September 19th, 2009 9:30 AM through 5:30 PM

Location

1246 Northeast Road
Northeast, MD 21901
United States
Contact Phone: 410-656-0015
Mobile: 603 283 8275
Email: bridgewright@gmail.com Email: joel@tfguild.net