Madison County, Iowa

[Tx-Burt]

I just got back from driving to Iowa for a funeral. Coming home decided to drive through Madison County. Here are a few pics of the bridges. The Holliwell bridge is a 'bow' style bridge. Pretty neat to see, all of them built in the late 1800's, of course they have been refurbished over the last few years. Enjoy

[jaypapa97]

Cool bridge. Look how green it is there!

[bdavid1020]

Very cool!! Just curious of why they built them like that?

[Tx-Burt]

Very cool!! Just curious of why they built them like that?

They found that it was less expensive to build the sides, roof, etc... than to replace the large timbers on the bottom of the bridge. The top and side protected the larger timbers from the elements. This was before they came up with treated lumber. Also it would supply shelter for travelers way back when. I guess they could stay on the bridge during the night to get out of the rain and snow.

[LemmeOut]

Neat and thanks for the explanation, I wondered the same thing as bdavid.