Waterford Covered Bridge
Coordinates: 41 ° 56 ′ 28 " N , 79 ° 57 ′ 48" W.
| Waterford Covered Bridge | ||
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| Convicted | Niemeyer Road | |
| Crossing of | LeBoeuf Creek | |
| place | Waterford , Erie County , Pennsylvania | |
| Entertained by | Waterford Township | |
| Building number | 257220046340030 | |
| construction | Lattice girder bridge made of wood | |
| overall length | 26.2 m | |
| width | 4.3 m | |
| Longest span | 23.8 m | |
| Load capacity | 2.7 t | |
| Headroom | 3 m | |
| completion | 1875 | |
| planner | Richard Cross | |
| location | ||
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NRHP Ref Number: 80003492 |
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The Waterford Covered Bridge is a 26.2 m long, covered timber lattice girder bridge that crosses LeBoeuf Creek in Waterford Township in Erie County , Pennsylvania . It was built in 1875 and inscribed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 17, 1980 .
overview
The Waterford Covered Bridge is located in Waterford Township, 700 m east of the town of Waterford on Niemeyer Road (Township Road 463). The bridge crosses LeBoeuf Creek, a tributary of French Creek .
The bridge was designed by Richard Cross, who chose a lattice girder for it. Ithiel Town had this method of construction patented in 1832 with the aim of constructing bridges with smaller, lighter instead of large, heavy components, which were more expensive to manufacture. It is the only bridge of this type in Erie County and one of only nineteen such structures in Pennsylvania.
history
The Waterford Covered Bridge was built in 1875 by the brothers Charles and James Phelps. A plaque on the gable of one of the bridge portals read "Old Kissing Bridge built in 1875 the Phelps Bros" , this plaque is no longer in place.
2001 Waterford Township received a grant of 54,000 dollars from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to renew the bridge (PHMC) to rafters, roof sheathing and shingles.
The bridge was damaged twice when too large trucks tried to drive over the bridge. The first incident occurred on June 17, 2003 when a Ford F-450 van attempted to drive over the bridge. The second incident on December 9, 2005 involved a FedEx truck that weighed about 25 cm higher than the 305 cm clearance and 1680 kg above the permitted payload of 3 ST . Several of the planks , support beams and cross pieces were damaged, but the integrity of the bridge was not damaged so that it did not have to be closed to traffic.
Benjamin and June Evans' book Pennsylvania's covered bridges: a complete guide describes the bridge as "in pretty poor condition". The Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory determined the value according to which the bridge meets the requirements with only 18.4 percent. It was determined that the foundations of the bridge are “stable for the submerged conditions encountered” and that the railings of the bridge “do not meet the currently acceptable standards”. The overall situation was identified as "generally intolerable [and requiring] high priority corrective action," with an estimated cost of $ 750,000.
Dimensions of the bridge
There are different publications about the dimensions of the bridge, the table opposite compares length, width and load-bearing capacity according to the various sources. The NBI measures the length of a bridge between the rear walls of the bridgeheads or the bridge sleepers and the width of the carriageway as the smallest distance between the railings or guardrails. The registration form for the National Register of Historic Places was prepared by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, which interviewed county's engineers, historical societies, and others when collecting data for all of the state's covered bridges. Benjamin and June Evans visited every covered bridge in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 2001 for their book and measured the bridge length from portal to portal and the width at the portal.
| Length feet (m) |
Wide foot (m) |
Load capacity short tons (t) |
source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 78 ft (23.8 m) | 13.7 ft (4.2 m) | 5.9 short tons (5.4 t) | NBI (2008) |
| 78 ft (23.8 m) | 15 ft (4.6 m) | 3 short tons (2.7 t) | NRHP (1979) |
| 85 ft 11 in (26.2 m) | 15 ft 1 in (4.6 m) | - | Evans (2001) |
| 78 ft (23.8 m) | 15 ft (4.6 m) | - | Zacher (1986) |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Benjamin D. Evans, June R. Evans: Pennsylvania's covered bridges: a complete guide . University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh 2001, ISBN 0-8229-5764-7 , p. 131, (accessed January 26, 2011).
- ↑ a b c d e f Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory : Place Name: Waterford (Township of), Pennsylvania NBI Structure Number: 257220046340030 . Nationalbridges.com (Alexander Svirsky). 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
- ^ A b John R. Claridge: National Register of Historic Places - Nomination Form (PDF) Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission . December 27, 1979. Retrieved October 25, 2008. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
- ^ A b Susan M. Zacher: The Covered Bridges of Pennsylvania: A Guide , 1st edition. Edition, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission , Harrisburg 1986, ISBN 0-89271-054-3 .
- ↑ a b Tim Hahn: FedEx truck smacks into historic 'Kissing Bridge' . In: Erie Times-News , December 11, 2005, pp. 1B, 6B.
Remarks
- ↑ The National Highway Administration has set up an evaluation system based on the extent to which a bridge meets the requirements placed on it. This value can range from zero to one hundred and is used to prioritize the distribution of federal funds for repair and new construction of bridges. This assessment is based on the condition of the structure, whether the bridge is functionally obsolete and what significance a bridge has for the public. Bridge Inspection Definitions ( English ) American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials . August 29, 2007. Accessed on January 26, 2011. Federal funds for new construction are available for bridges with a value below 50, and funds with a value between 50 and 80 are allocated for repairs. Bridge Sufficiency Ratings ( English , PDF) Kansas Department of Transportation . Retrieved on January 26, 2011. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In 2007, Pennsylvania had 22,291 bridges over 20 feet (6.1 m) in length , 42.9% of which were either structural or obsolete. State by State: 'Deficient' or 'Obsolete' Bridges ( English ) MSNBC . 2007-02-2007. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
