Owen's Covered Bridge

Owen's Covered Bridge. . The Owen's Covered Bridge was built around 1875 to span the North River, a tributary of the Des Moines River. This Howe Truss style bridge originally sat about 2.5 miles northeast of Carlisle where it formed part of a road from Martins Ferry to Winterset. In 1939, the road and river were relocated which left the bridge abandoned on Gordon Owen's land., Covered bridge designs like the Howe Truss protected the trusses, or lumber supports, from weather to extend the life of a bridge. But, construction of the Red Rock Dam and Reservoir threatened this last remaining covered bridge in Polk County., Before the area flooded, Polk County Conservation purchased the bridge in 1965 for one dollar. In 1968 it was moved to its current location in Easter Lake Park (then known as Yeader Creek Park)., Between 1967–2012, Easter Lake lost nearly 30% of its volume to sedimentation. Lake renovations between 2016–2018 removed over 675,000 cubic yards of sediment. , For future protection, a large basin was designed to the left of the bridge to slow down incoming storm water allowing sediment to settle before entering Easter Lake. The basin will be more cost effective to maintain than dredging the entire lake., Water quality thrives when restored and maintained, Phosphorus in sediment can cause algae to rapidly grow and overtake a lake. It takes only one pound of phosphorus to produce 300 to 500 pounds of algae., Winter 2016 , Completely silted-in bay by the covered bridge. Virtually no water can pass under the bridge., Spring 2017 , Silted-in bays around the lake were targeted during the dredging process., The sediment basin will help reduce over 200 tons of sediment and almost 300 lbs. of phosphorus from entering the lake, making it cleaner for people and wildlife., Winter 2017 , The bay gained 8-10 feet of depth from hydraulic dredging in 2016 and shoreline stabilization in 2018., Spring 2020 , The result is cleaner water and healthier habitats surrounding Easter Lake.