Skip to main content

Roddy Road Covered Bridge - Thurmont, Maryland

Image
By

 


At a span of 39 feet and 4 inches, the Roddy Road Covered Bridge is the shortest covered bridge in the State of Maryland. The Kingpost truss designed covered bridge on Roddy Road crosses Owens Creek, just north of Thurmont and not far from US 15. While the original covered bridge was replaced with a replica covered bridge in 2017, the original covered bridge was built during the 1850s. The builder and year of construction for the original Roddy Road Covered Bridge are unknown, but most historians have set the build date either around 1850 or in 1856, about the same time that the nearby Loys Station and Utica Mills Covered Bridges were built.

While the usual wear and tear over the years plus damage from over height vehicles seem to tell the tale of this bridge, it is a commonly held belief that Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalry crossed the Roddy Road Covered Bridge on July 5, 1863 during the Gettysburg campaign of the Civil War. There are no records indicating any battles took place at or near the bridge. That is probably the most exciting event to happen relating the Roddy Road Covered Bridge. 

Steel beams were added under the bridges flooring for support during the early 1930s and were twice replaced due to corrosion. Steel beams were first replaced during the a rehabilitation project in 1979 and 1980. Unfortunately, errors were made while repairing the bridge by setting the four corner posts in concrete, resulting in trapped moisture at the base of the posts and the end of the bottom chords causing the wood to rot. In March 1992, an oversized truck damaged the bridge roof and truss, closing the bridge to traffic. Repairs were done through the help and effort of many volunteers and the bridge was able to reopen in October of the same year.

In 2011, the National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Program awarded a $176,400 grant to Frederick County for repairs to Utica Mills, Roddy Road and Loys Station Covered Bridges. Frederick County kicked in another $44,100 to bring the total funding amount to $220,500. The contract to repair the bridges was awarded to Kingsley Construction, Inc. Work began to rehabilitate Roddy Road Bridge in June 2015 and this work included installing interior fire retardant, an exterior paint job using red paint, a fire alarm system in case of mischievous arsonists, timber guard rail along Roddy Creek Road, and toe wall for scour protection at the north abutment of the bridge.

However, the repairs to the bridge were short lived, as an oversized truck damaged Roddy Road Bridge on May 18, 2016. While damage to the portal boards were quickly repaired, another oversized truck heavily damaged the bridge just one month later on June 16, 2016. This time the damage was extensive. Talk about bad luck! In addition to ripping off the portal board and breaking roof braces, a lot of the wood was twisted from the damage caused by the truck. The bridge was dismantled in October 2016 to examine the heavy timber pieces for possible reuse in reconstruction of the covered bridge. It was determined the timber was not reusable so all new timber was used to rebuild a replica covered bridge. Construction of the new Roddy Road Bridge was completed in April 2017 by Heavy Timber Construction of Frederick, Maryland.

In addition to a completely new Roddy Road Covered Bridge, Roddy Creek Road was redirected to make it safer to enter the bridge from the north end, a new park was built that includes restrooms, playground, a short walking trail and a parking lot. Bars were also placed at both ends of the bridge to help prevent oversized trucks from entering the bridge, thus ensuring the health and longevity of the covered bridge for years to come.

Pictures show in this article are from March 2015, so they are of the original Roddy Road Covered Bridge.





How to Get There:



Sources and Links:
Visit Frederick - Roddy Road Covered Bridge
Bridgehunter.com - Roddy Road Covered Bridge 20-10-02
Maryland Covered Bridges - Roddy Road Covered Bridge #1
Maryland Covered Bridges - Roddy Road Covered Bridge #2
Labels:
Location: Roddy Road Covered Bridge, 14760 Roddy Rd, Thurmont, MD 21788, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more

Finding the Pre-Emption Road of New York State

By
  The Pre-Emption Road (or rather a series of roads named Pre-Emption Road) follows a survey line called the Pre-Emption Line, drawn in the early days of the United States. The story begins with Massachusetts and New York having competing land claims to modern day Western New York State that have their roots in colonial charters granted by the British. After the Revolutionary War ended, this land became the frontier of the nation and its settlement became a priority for the new American government. During this era, there were a lot of competing land claims that needed to be settled. It was no different with the land claims between New York State and Massachusetts. On November 30, 1786, Massachusetts and New York sent representatives to Hartford, Connecticut to resolve their competing land claims. In less than three weeks, the representatives had reached a compromise. Massachusetts would receive pre-emption rights, meaning the right to sell the land after the Indian title ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more