Just Miniature Scale

Retired engineer to display covered bridge models

By STEVEN REILLY

sreilly@njherald.com

MONTAGUE — The romance of the American covered bridge lives on in miniature scale at the Foster-Armstrong House museum in Montague. There will be a special display today of a complete 80-foot-long scale model of the Green Sergeant, the last covered bridge still standing in New Jersey.

The model shows, in full detail, the intricate wood structures and complex joints that craftsmen and master builders used centuries ago to build these American icons of engineering.

Bill Coughlin, 71, is the master model builder who has contributed more than 14 model bridges, detailed plans and a scaled model of the High Point Monument to the Montague Association for the Restoration of Community History, the curators of the Foster-Armstrong museum located at 320 River Road.

His smaller models are on loan to the museum and can be seen by the public on a regular basis, but the full size model of the Green Sergeant will only be on display today from noon to 4 p.m. The detail and craftsmanship in the models rival that of the real-life bridges.

Coughlin, a retired engineer, began building the models after attending meetings of the museum board and hearing the need to put a display in some of the empty rooms at the Foster-Armstrong House.

"I started with a model of a farm scene that showed what life was like in Sussex County years ago," Coughlin said. "Then I built a model of the most popular covered bridge in America, a Theodore Burr design. From there I just started working my way through history."

Coughlin has crafted a more than a dozen three-quarter-inch scale models of bridges, and bridge designs, from all over New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Vermont. The bridges are built of white pine that Coughlin hand tools to match the exact design specifications of the actual bridges, from the large support beams to the individual roof shingles that he cuts out one at a time.

"It is very satisfying to create something with my own two hands that people can enjoy," Coughlin said. "I always loved to build models, and this lets me share my work with others."

Coughlin has studied history books on covered bridges and selected examples of popular designs and historical importance to be the subject of his models.

Just Miniature Scale - News

Retired engineer to display covered bridge models

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