Trials and Successes of Covered Bridge Engineering and Construction: Hamden Covered Bridge, Delaware County, New York

The rehabilitation of a historic covered bridge is confounded by numerous challenges. The engineering involves issues unfamiliar to many of today’s practicing engineers. The relatively few, and geographically dispersed, covered bridge construction projects in modern times often involve contractors with limited experience in the nuances of covered bridges. Three bridges in Delaware County, New York, have recently undergone extensive rehabilitation. Although work on the Hamden bridge predated funding available through the National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Program as created by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, the work was performed to standards similar to those required by that program.