Pine Bluff Covered Bridge

The Pine Bluff Covered Bridge is a historic structure carrying County Road 900 North over Big Walnut Creek in Putnam County, Indiana.

The Pine Bluff Covered Bridge is a historic structure that carries County Road 900 North over Big Walnut Creek in Putnam County, Indiana.

In 1886, Joseph Albert Britton constructed the current covered bridge using the Howe truss design. ¹ The double-span bridge rests on concrete abutments and a central pier, featuring board-and-batten siding and a metal roof.

Joseph Albert Britton (1839-1929), a native of Parke County, constructed approximately 40 covered bridges in Parke, Vermillion, and Putnam counties. ¹ He was the son of a carpenter and enlisted for military service during the Civil War. Although admitted to the bar as an attorney in Indiana and Kansas, he returned to carpentry in Indiana, building his first bridge in 1882—the Narrows Bridge, now located in Turkey Run State Park.

The Howe truss system was invented by William H. Howe, a millwright who patented the design in 1840. ¹ The system uses iron bars and turnbuckles to regulate tension and hold the top and bottom chords together. The wooden X-brace members are in compression, while the iron tie rods maintain equalizing tension. In earlier all-wood bridges, components often separated from the main chords, but the addition of iron assemblies resolved this issue. Howe patented a second truss system in 1846.

The bridge’s importance declined after the designation of Indiana State Road 31 by the Indiana State Highway Commission and the closure of the New Maysville post office in 1919. ¹