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Chaplin or Sutherland Tunnel Mill, Nelson County

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Inventory Number: KY/17-90-01x / KY-115-02x
County: Nelson County / Washington County
Township:
Town/Village: Chaplin
Bridge Name: Chaplin or Sutherland Tunnel Mill
Crosses: Chaplin River
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 2
Length: 270'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1862
Builder: Corneilus Barnes
When Lost: 13 Mar 1971
Cause: Arson
Latitude: N37 52.23
Longitude: W085 13.85
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: KY 458.

Chaplin or Sutherland Tunnel Mill Bridge, Chaplin, Nelson & Washington Counties, KY Built 1862 Arson 13 Mar 1971
Palmer Werner Collection

Chaplin or Sutherland Tunnel Mill Bridge, Chaplin, Nelson & Washington Counties, KY Built 1862 Arson 13 Mar 1971
Bryan Ketchum Photo, April 4, 1953, Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Resource Center

Chaplin or Sutherland Tunnel Mill Bridge, Chaplin, Nelson & Washington Counties, KY Built 1862 Arson 13 Mar 1971
Richard Sanders Allen Collection, NSPCB Archives

Chaplin or Sutherland Tunnel Mill Bridge, Chaplin, Nelson & Washington Counties, KY Built 1862 Arson 13 Mar 1971
Bryan Ketchum Photo, April 4, 1953, Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Resource Center

Comments:
After the Claysville bridge burned in 1953, this structure became the longest covered bridge in Kentucky. It was closed to traffic on March 11, 1971 because of an upstream shift in the central pier. Plans were being finalized to bypass it, but arsonists burned it before that happened.

Sources:
Clough, Philip & Betsy. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 1959, page 23
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume XXIX, No. 3, October 1971, page 10
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume VI, No. 1, March 1948, page 10
Database of Kentucky covered bridges compiled by Robert W. M. Laughlin
Laughlin, Robert W. M. and Melissa C. Jurgensen. Covered Bridges of Kentucky, 2007, page 40