Oregon Covered Bridges

Many people don't know that Oregon is one of the nation's leading repositories of covered bridges! They were built all over the western part of the state in the late 1800s and early 1900s; the rainy climate dictated building roofs over wooden roadbeds to decrease maintenance costs and extend the life of the bridge. Once, there were about 400 covered bridges in Oregon. Now, about 50 are left. Many of those have been restored over the past few decades. One I visited, near the town of Crabtree, east of Albany, was closed as it is in the process of being repaired. This is the Stewart Bridge near Cottage Grove, built in 1930; it's no longer in use for traffic.

The Mosby Creek bridge, just a couple miles from the Stewart, still carries quite a bit of traffic. It was built in 1920. Blow up the pics for better detail, especially on the signs over the bridges.

Another pedestrian only span, Currin Bridge, dates from 1925.

The Hannah Bridge, built in 1936, is near Scio, north of Lebanon.

The Shimanek Bridge was built in 1927 and restored in 1966. It's on a fairly busy country road just east of Scio. I saw all these bridges for the first time today by taking detours off Interstate 5. It's nice to get a break from the truck slalom and see some peaceful, historic country.