This sign on the Carillon bridge is original and specifies the fine that was imposed for violation of the “law of the bridge.”
$5 FINE FOR RIDING OR DRIVING OVER THIS BRIDGE FASTER THAN A WALK
$20 FINE FOR DRIVING OVER THIS BRIDGE MORE THAN 20 HORSES OR CATTLE AT ONCE
$5 FINE FOR CARRYING FIRE OVER OR UNDER THIS BRIDGE IN AN UNCLOSED VESSEL
Most covered bridges were built along identical lines. They usually had a single tunnel with sides boarded to the eaves. The two-tunnel bridge was something of an exception. One of the few changes in bridge construction came with latticed sides which relieved the bridge from the gloom that pervaded the original type. This gloom had its compensation for lovers, who found freedom from prying eyes in the friendly dark. More than one old structure was called “The Kissing Bridge.”
The original bridges with the planked sides afforded a great opportunity for the billposter. The walls blazed with lurid circus posters, advertisements for patent medicines and brands of tobacco. It represented the first phase of what has come to be known as “outdoor advertising.”
The covered bridge also afforded an opportunity for robbers to ply their trade. It was easy to hide in the deep shadows, pounce upon the unsuspecting wayfarer, and despoil him of his possessions. Murderers also lurked in those dark confines. Crimes on the covered bridges were numerous. This led a contemporary writer to say:
“Boys have lost a year’s growth by going through a covered bridge; girls have become gray before their time; stout farmers have had a queer feeling when the moon is high, the roads deserted, and the echoes of the horses’ hoofs are loud and strong.”
The two main types of covered bridges were the lattice truss of wood and the Howe truss of iron and wood.
One outstanding fact in connection with the old bridges is that they were not built by engineers or professional bridge-builders, but by local carpenters who put up the houses and barns in the adjacent countryside. This explains what has been termed their “homely simplicity.” They represented honest work. Those men had no knowledge of scientific building. Wind pressure and load limit were the first considerations. One builder constructed his bridges “high and wide as a load of hay.” That was his only specification.