Bureau County Covered Bridges
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Red Covered Bridge

Red Covered Bridge Princeton, Illinois Over Bureau Creek.

Red Covered Bridge snow

Bureau County Red Covered Bridge is north of Princeton, Il., and for almost 150 years has been a landmark for artists, photograpers, nature lovers and picnicers.

Bureau County Red Covered Bridge is one of six remaining covered bridges in Illinois, this bridge was built in 1863 and is still open to traffic. The Red Covered Bridge crosses Big Bureau Creek and was once part of the Peoria-Galena Trail.

The 147.9 foot span was built at a cost of $3,148.57.

Bureau County Red Covered Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (added 1975 - Structure - #75000640).

  • Built
    1863: rehabilitated 1973

  • Design:
    Covered Howe through truss

  • Dimensions
    Length of largest span: 95.1 ft.
    Total length: 147.9 ft.
    Deck width: 15.4 ft.
    Vertical clearance above deck: 11.9 ft.

Painting of Bureau County Red Covered Bridge

Red Covered Bridge Painting

Painted sign at the beginning of the raod pointing the way to the Red Covered Bridge.

Bureau County Red Covered Bridge Sign

Red covered sign

The sign reads:"Five dollars fine for driving more than twelve horses, mules or cattle at one time or for leading any beast faster than a walk on or across this bridge."

Bureau County Red Covered Bridge Princeton, Il.

Red Covered Wide

Wide angle from the East side of the Red Covered Bridge. The hole on the left side is from the floods of 2008 that closed the bridge for some time.

Inside of the Bureau County Red Covered Bridge

Bureau County Red covered Bridge inside

this is the view of the interior structure of the Red Covered Bridge.

Howe Truss
William Howe of Massachusetts patented the Howe truss design in 1840. It is really an elaboration on the multiple kingpost design where by two heavy metal rods are substituted for the vertical timbers. There are also variations on this pattern that add a second diagonal timber to the original single diagonal of the multiple kingpost and/or another diagonal timber running in the opposite direction between the vertical rods. Some accounts indicate that the Howe design provided a bridge that was stronger than the all-wood structure; as a result, it became the forerunner of iron bridges. There are 124 Howe truss spans in the United States today.

Howetruss

 

 
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