The Bickham Covered Bridge was completed in 1877 over the South Fork Miami River in Logan County. It’s named after the Bickham family who lived nearby, who came to Logan County in 1825. This covered bridge replaced an open wooden bridge that was built here in 1867 that had only lasted 10 years do to wood rot and severe deterioration from being exposed to the weather. The County felt that it was worth replacing the bridge this time with a cover over it to help protect it. It was build by the Smith Company from Toledo Ohio who held 2 patents on wooden truss bridges for train and transportation bridges. The Bickham covered bridge however was not build using the Smith truss system but instead was constructed using the Howe Truss system that was highly used in the construction of many covered bridges built in the surrounding areas because it was a proven method. This was likely do to steel rods that were installed through the wooden trusses that could be tightened to keep the bridge well supported and maintained. The covered bridge has gone through some repairs and modifications over the years mainly do to damage from large vehicles. Today the floor joists were replaced with structual steel members that replaced the timber beams underneath as wel as the lateral joist supports in the top of the bridge to help give it a higher carrying capacity. Other projects to the covered bridge encluded fire retardation paint and night time lighting to help prevent vandalism and animals such as bats from living in the bridge that could cause damage!
