Powerscourt Covered Bridge

The Powerscourt Covered Bridge is a covered bridge that takes the First Concession Road across the Chateauguay River in Hinchinbrooke, Quebec. It is also known as the Percy Bridge.

Powerscourt Covered Bridge Pont Percy
View (August 2005) looking upriver, from the West bank (Elgin)
Coordinates	45.00871°N 74.15953°W / 45.00871; -74.15953
Carries	2-lane road (reduced to one lane + 2 sidewalks in 2010)
Crosses	Chateauguay River
Locale	Between Elgin and Hinchinbrooke
Characteristics
Design	McCallum Truss
Total length	51 m (167 ft)
Width	6.2 m (20 ft)
Height	8 m (26 ft) to top
Longest span	26 m (85 ft)
Clearance above	3 m (9.8 ft)
History
Opened	1861
Statistics
Daily traffic	Automotive and pedestrian
National Historic Site of Canada
Official name	Powerscourt Covered Bridge National Historic Site of Canada
Designated	1984
Patrimoine culturel du Québec
Type	Classified heritage immovable
Designated	1987
Location

It was constructed in 1861, and employs the McCallum inflexible arched truss, developed by Daniel McCallum. It was the only McCallum truss bridge that was not a railway bridge, and since wooden truss railway bridges have all but been replaced with steel and concrete bridges, it is the last bridge of its kind in the world.[1] In 2009 it was fully restored to its original 1861 plans.[2]

It is supported on three masonry piers and the two spans are structurally independent of each other.[3]

The Powerscourt Covered Bridge was designated a National Historic Site of Canada[3] in 1984 because:

• it is the only known example of a McCallum inflexible arched truss bridge still in existence;
• it is one of the oldest covered bridges that exists in Canada.

The bridge was also named an Historic Monument of Quebec in 1987.[4] It was documented by the U.S. Historic American Engineering Record in 2003 with assistance from Public Works and Government Services Canada.[5]