Jay Bridge in Jay, New York, spans the East Branch of the Ausable River as a wooden covered Howe truss bridge and is one of only two covered bridges in the Adirondacks. After flooding destroyed an earlier bridge at this crossing in 1856, the present structure was rebuilt in 1857. Its later history shows both the fragility and endurance of timber bridges: a heavy truck fell through the floor in 1953, leading to repairs that replaced 80 feet of one end. In 1997, traffic shifted to a new steel bridge downstream, and the historic bridge was restored for pedestrian and bicycle use.