Old Bridgeway
Covered Bridges of Canada

The timber bridges that still cross Canadian rivers.

Covered bridges were built across Canada from the mid-nineteenth century onward, their wooden trusses sheltered by roofs and siding. This reference looks at how they were framed, where they survive, and how communities maintain them today.

Read the Hartland study Browse by region →
The Hartland Covered Bridge crossing the Saint John River in New Brunswick
Hartland Covered Bridge over the Saint John River, New Brunswick. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Why they were covered

A roof was a maintenance decision, not decoration.

The covering protected the load-bearing timber truss from rain and snow. An exposed wooden deck and chords could rot within a decade or two; a sheltered frame could last generations. The walls and roof you see are sacrificial cladding, replaced over time, while the truss inside carries the traffic.

Sheltered timber

Roof and siding keep the chords and diagonals dry, slowing the decay that ends exposed wooden spans. Cladding is renewed; the frame endures.

Local materials

Builders used spruce, pine and hemlock cut near the crossing. Spans were sized to the river and to the longest sound timbers available.

Named truss types

Most surviving Canadian examples use the Town lattice, Howe or Long truss. Each distributes load through a different arrangement of timber and iron.

Featured reading

Three studies of design and preservation.

Wakefield Covered Bridge, Quebec

Wakefield Bridge

A Howe-truss crossing in Quebec, rebuilt by volunteers after a fire. A case study in faithful reconstruction.

Quebec · Howe truss
Read the article →
Hartland Covered Bridge, New Brunswick

Hartland Bridge

The longest covered bridge in the world, in New Brunswick. How a multi-span Howe truss was framed and later sheltered.

New Brunswick · Multi-span Howe
Read the article →
West Montrose Covered Bridge, Ontario

Truss systems

Town lattice, Howe and Long trusses compared, with the Ontario and Quebec spans that still use them.

Engineering · Comparison
Read the article →
By region

Where covered bridges survive in Canada.

Surviving spans are concentrated in a few provinces, shaped by river systems, forestry and local heritage protection.

  • New Brunswick Home to the Hartland Bridge and dozens of smaller spans, many recorded by the provincial government as heritage structures.
  • Quebec A strong tradition of "ponts couverts," including the rebuilt Wakefield bridge and the historic Powerscourt bridge near the Chateauguay River.
  • Ontario Far fewer survive; the West Montrose bridge over the Grand River is the best known and remains in regular use.
Contact

Questions or corrections about a bridge?

If you have a reference, a photograph credit, or a correction about a span listed here, send a note. This form runs in your browser for demonstration and does not transmit data.