Community History

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Patrick Owens Covered Bridge

Facts and information:

236 feet, built 1909 (2nd longest, oldest bridge in NB)

double span

1908 original construction cost  $5,439.00

1929 lookout window was added due to "two bad curves in the roadway at each end of the bridge"

1932 roof reshingled at a cost of $500.00

1935 floor was repaired with 3inch planking

1946 two new transom timbers to repair flooring

1949 68,000 shingles and 10 kegs of galvanized shingle nails used to repair roof

The Patrick Owens bridge was designed using the HOWE Truss design developed by William Howe and employed steel or iron rods to supplement the wooden truss.  These rods had swollen threaded ends with nuts attached that could be loosened or tightened, thus tightening or lossening the rods.  If a bridge began to sag the problem could easily be rectified in this way.  The Howe truss design is seen in most of the covered bridges still standing in New Brunswick. The base is constructed of heavy chords and rested on timber projections, call corbels, on each abutment.  The heavy chords are made of Douglas fir or white pine. Spruce or elm stringers were placed over the base lengthwise and a sub floor of boards, usually NB black spruce were placed diagonally.  Then over all this the planking of the deck was laid.  The planks were usually laid lengthwise, diagonally or in a herringbone pattern.  The outside of the bridge is usually done with hemlock boards.  The Patrick Owens bridge has a square opening.  Above the entrance way the name of the bridge, along with the date is posted. The window in the bridge was not included in the original design was added later in 1929. 

The chief bridge engineer for the Province of New Brunswick when the Patrick Owens bridge was built was Andrew R. Wetmore, he served as chief engineer from 1894 to 1925.

Speed on the bridge was strictly enforced.  In 1845 it was enacted that, "no horse or other beast, or carriage of any kind, shall be taken over said bridge at a pace faster than a walk on pain of forfeiture of twenty shillings for every offense, to be recovered in an action of debt before any Justice of the Peace, upon complaint of the toll gatherer, the said money when recovered, to be applied to the use of said Corporation."

The trotting of a horse could set in motion a vibration and damage the trusses.  With the advent of automobiles the provincial motor vehicle law in 1926 was enacted and read, "if a motor vehicle...is operated at a rate of speed greater than one mile in four minutes, it shall be deemed prima facie to be operated at a rate of speed greater than is reasonable and proper and in violation of this section."

The approach to the bridge is very sharp as the covered bridge was built "square to the river", this was the least expensive way to span the river and as long as the end of the bridge was wide enough and high enough to accomodate a wagon fully loaded with hay it met the local requirements.

With the development of modern building materials it became unnecessary to cover bridges to extend their life and thus the building of covered bridges has become a thing of the past.

(The above information was researched by Linda Cogswell, and compiled from information contained in the files of the provincial archives of New Brunswick, files of the New Brunswick Department of Transportation and from an article Covered Bridges: Part of Our Heritage by Richard K. Doyle, published in the Atlantic Advocate, June 1981., also from the book, "No Faster Than a Walk", published 1988, Stephen Gillis & John Gillis; and from New Brunswick's Covered Bridges, published 1992 by Helen Coldrick.)

But who was Patrick Owens?  Many thought he was a bridge builder, but his name doesn't appear anywhere in the 1908 construction file or in the engineers notes!  It turns out the mystery was solved during the festival when descendents of Patrick Owens told their story.  Mr. Owens was a farmer who lived in the house by the river (currently occupied by G. Hetherington) and the market was on the other side of the river.  To get there he had to travel around.  Eventually he built a foot bridge to get across and then a larger bridge, and eventually a covered bridge was erected by the Province.  Bridges were often named for the person who lived closest to the bridge. 

At one time there were 4000 covered bridges in New Brunswick, now there are only 63.  Rusagonis at one time had 4 in the community and this is the last one.  We, in Rusagonis are very proud of our Patrick Owens Covered Bridge and are fiercely protective of it.  To have a structure such as this survive floods, accidents and endure for so many years is a testament to the pioneers of the community.  It ties us to our past in a tangible way and forever reminds us that we are just caretakers of our heritage.