The Root Covered Bridge is a historic wooden covered bridge

Covered bridge

A covered bridge is a bridge with enclosed sides and a roof, often accommodating only a single lane of traffic. Most covered bridges are wooden; some newer ones are concrete or metal with glass sides...

 in the southeastern part of the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. Located off State Route 555

Ohio State Route 555

State Route 555 ' is a long, north–south running state highway that passes through four counties in southeastern Ohio. State Route 555's southern terminus is at the triplex of U.S. Route 50, State Route 7 and State Route 32 in the unincorporated community of Little Hocking in extreme...

 in far northern Decatur Township

Decatur Township, Washington County, Ohio

Decatur Township is one of the twenty-two townships of Washington County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 1,181 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the southwestern corner of the county, it borders the following townships:...

, Washington County

Washington County, Ohio

Washington County is a county located in the state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 61,778. Its county seat is Marietta. The county, the oldest in the state, is named for George Washington. Washington County is included in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, West Virginia-Ohio...

, the bridge was built in 1878 in the Long truss mode of truss bridge

Truss bridge

A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...

 construction. Measuring 65 feet (19.8 m) in its single span

Span (architecture)

Span is the distance between two intermediate supports for a structure, e.g. a beam or a bridge.A span can be closed by a solid beam or of a rope...

, it spans the West Branch of the Little Hocking River

Little Hocking River

The Little Hocking River is a small tributary of the Ohio River, long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. Via the Ohio River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of on the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau...

.

Constructed with weatherboarded

Weatherboarding

Weatherboarding is the cladding or ‘siding’ of a house consisting of long thin timber boards that overlap one another, either vertically or horizontally on the outside of the wall. They are usually of rectangular section with parallel sides...

 walls on stone abutment

Abutment

An abutment is, generally, the point where two structures or objects meet. This word comes from the verb abut, which means adjoin or having common boundary. An abutment is an engineering term that describes a structure located at the ends of a bridge, where the bridge slab adjoins the approaching...

s and equipped with a metal roof and elements of iron and steel, the Root Bridge was named for the nearby community of Root Town, which has since become a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

. Its builders were Charles and Alta Meredith, who built many other Washington County bridges; two other bridges in the county, known as the Hune

Hune Covered Bridge

The Hune Covered Bridge is a historic wooden covered bridge in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Located northeast of the community of Dart, it spans the Little Muskingum River in northeastern Lawrence Township in the eastern part of Washington County...

 and the Harra

Harra Covered Bridge

The Harra Covered Bridge is a historic wooden covered bridge in Washington County, Ohio, United States. Located in western Watertown Township, about north of the community of Watertown, the bridge spans the South Branch of Wolf Creek near the intersection of State Route 339 and Township Road 172...

 Covered Bridges, also employ the Long truss. It is believed that the Meredith family heavily favored the style, because they were responsible for building both of those bridges. Throughout Ohio, only eight Long truss bridges are in existence today; the majority of Ohio's Long truss bridges are located in southern Ohio. Besides the importance of the Meredith family, this concentration is also likely due to the presence of one of the designer's agents in the region, who also functioned as a general contractor

General contractor

A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...

 for bridge construction in southern Ohio.

In early 1975, the Root Covered Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

, qualifying because of its importance as a well preserved example of historic engineering methods. It was the first Washington County covered bridge to be listed on the Register, although five others — including the Harra and Hune bridges — have since received the same designation.