Cataract Falls Covered Bridge

The Cataract Falls Covered Bridge carries a pedestrian walkway over Mill Creek in Owen County, Indiana.

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History

The Cataract Falls Covered Bridge carries a pedestrian walkway over Mill Creek within Cataract Falls State Recreation Area in Owen County, Indiana.

Early settler Isaac Teal built a mill around 1820 near Lower Cataract Falls. ⁴ Drawn by the natural beauty and economic promise of the area, Theodore Jennings purchased the ruins of Teal’s mill, both the Lower and Upper Cataract Falls, and approximately 1,000 surrounding acres in 1841. He soon constructed mills for flour, wool, barrels, and lumber. The village of Cataract grew to about 100 residents and became the principal settlement of Jennings Township.

On August 2, 1875, a flood destroyed the original covered bridge above Cataract Falls, along with more than a dozen others in the county. ^{3 4} The county commissioners soon began discussions on replacing the damaged bridges. ⁴ On August 19, they issued an order to advertise bids for the repair of nine bridges, including the crossing over the Eel River (Mill Creek) at Cataract. The initial bid was rejected on August 31, and new bids for a “Smith Wooden Truss” were solicited on September 9. A contract for the superstructure was awarded to the Smith Bridge Company on October 22, while a separate contract for the abutments was awarded to William Baragan.

The current single-span Smith Type A (double-intersection Warren) truss bridge was completed in December 1876 by the Smith Bridge Company of Toledo, Ohio. ^{1 2 3} The Smith Type A truss is the only example of its kind in Indiana. ^{1 2}

The project cost $1,678.84 for the abutments and substructure, and $2,009 for the superstructure. ^{3 4} The bridge featured cut-stone abutments measuring 23 feet wide and 6 feet thick, with wingwalls constructed perpendicular to them from dry-laid rubble. ⁴ The superstructure was built from non-native white pine. ³

The Smith Bridge Company introduced innovative prefabrication techniques to compete with the popular iron bridge construction that had become widespread after the Civil War. ³ Rather than building bridges entirely on-site, company founder Robert W. Smith manufactured the components in Toledo, disassembled them, and shipped them for reassembly at the destination.

The bridge originally had no windows. ⁴ In 1980, vandals cut the first window into the north wall to remove artwork painted there three years earlier.

A new bridge bypassed the historic Cataract Falls Covered Bridge in 1988. ^{3 4} In 1995, the structure received new siding, roof shingles, board decking, and additional windows. ⁴

In October 2004, funding from the Indiana Department of Transportation through the Federal Highway Transportation Enhancement Program supported a major rehabilitation project. ^{3 4} Led by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Engineering and Matthew Reckard of J.A. Barker Engineering, with Intech Contracting as the primary contractor, the work addressed sagging at mid-span, rebuilt the floor and wing walls, repaired truss diagonals and abutments, and installed riprap. ⁴ The McAlister Stone Company reconstructed the masonry wing walls using dry-laid stone.

For the repairs, the bridge was rolled onto dry ground using small rollers mounted on 27-foot steel I-beams. ⁴ After the work was completed, the bridge was moved back into position.

The Cataract Falls Covered Bridge was listed on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2005. ^{1 4}

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Gallery

Historic American Engineering Record

Photos by James W. Rosenthal from May 2004.

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Details

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Sources

1. “Cataract Falls Covered Bridge.” Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database.
2. “Cataract Falls Covered Bridge.” Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database, 1993.
3. Interpretative sign.
4. Brown, Mark M. and Matt Reckard. Cataract Falls Bridge. Historic American Engineering Record, U.S. National Park Service, 2002, HAER IN-104.