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Ring Factory Covered Bridge

COUNTY WORLD GUIDE # CROSSES TRUSS SPANS LENGTH BUILT GONE
Harford MD-12-30x Winters Run Burr arch 1 65' 1868-69 1885
A covered bridge may have crossed Winters Run on Ring Factory Road as early as 1847 or maybe 1855. A notice to bridge builders appeared in the Harford Madisonian on October 11, 1855 requesting proposals for a bridge at this location with "the timbers of said bridge to be good white oak and white pine - the roof to be covered with cypress shingles - weatherboarding to be of good pine." However, the notice also requested proposals for a timber bridge without a roof. No evidence exits as to what type of bridge was built at this time. On August 23, 1867, The Aegis and Intelligencer reported that a storm destroyed the Ring Factory Bridge.¹
On July 24, 1868, The Aegis and Intelligencer advertised for proposals to build a bridge at Ring Factory. The specifications were nearly identical to that of the 1855 ad, although this time it only requested proposals for a covered bridge:
Bridge Notice - Proposals will be received by the County Commissioners of Harford County, up to the 10th of August 1868, at 12 o'clock, M., for rebuilding the bridge at Ring Factory. The span to be 65 feet between the abutments. The bridge to be 15 feet above ordinary water mark. Arch bridge. Wing walls on south side of stream to be 16', and on lower side 25 feet. On north side upper wing walls 60 feet and lower one 30 feet long. The walls and abutments to be laid on such foundations as to secure them effectively against flood and frost. The wood work to be of such size and character as will be durable, and, with extension of roof and ends, so as to protect the ends of arches and timber from the effects of the weather.
The Baltimore Sun, on August 5, 1885, reported on the loss of bridges in Harford County caused by a heavy storm. The Ring Factory Bridge was listed as one of the lost bridges:
The destruction of bridges in Harford County caused by the storm of Sunday night and Monday morning, entails a serious loss on the county, and will doubtless necessitate an increase in the county levy to repair damages. The bridges swept away were: On Winters Run - Hanway's, Mitchell's, Waters, Ring Factory, Hollingsworth's, and Bell's.
¹Jack L. Shagena, Jr., Henry C. Peden, Jr., Timber Bridges - Covered and Uncovered: Harford County's Rural Heritage. (Privately printed by the authors; Bel Air, MD, March, 2010), p. 76.
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