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Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania
(WGN
38-36-33 #2) (WGCB PA-36-33 #2) (1985). A
single-span, Burr arch truss, 147' 5" over Octoraro Creek. Located:
On Mt Pleasant Road (TR 696) at the jct. with Hollow Road, Bart Township,
Pennsylvania. Directions: Between Quarryville, Pennsylvania,
and Christiana, Pennsylvania, at the jct. of Valley Road (SR
372) and Mt Pleasant Road (TR 696), go south on Mt. Pleasant Road (TR 696)
for 1.6 miles to the bridge.
The bridge was originally built in 1878 at
a cost of $2,410. This is one of the most attractive covered bridges
in Lancaster County, but is reported as being seen by fewer people than
any other, due to its location. It is the only Lancaster County Covered
Bridge that does not lie straight across a waterway: the bridge is built
“on a skew.” When the 1878 bridge was built, a saw mill was located
on one side of the creek and a large rock formation lay on the other.
These elements forced the builders to place the bridge on a diagonal.
It was damaged by a flood in July 1984 and rebuilt in 1985
at a cost of
$75,000. During reconstruction, parts of the bridge,
including some of the Burr arch, were taken from the dismantled
Kuhns
Ford/Mummert's Grove Covered Bridge (WGN 38-01-12)
in Adams County after that structure was partially destroyed by Hurricane
Eloise on September 9, 1975. After a 10 year battle to save
the relatively undamaged second span, it was dismantled and given to Lancaster
County, PA Commissioners to use for spare parts for their bridges.
It is covered with vertical board and batten siding. Shiplapped siding
adorns the gable portions of the portals, and vertical board cover the
portals’ legs. Cedar shakes cover the roof. It rest on New
concrete abutments, and there is an extended retaining wall on one side.
Unlike most other county covered bridges, It has no parapets. The
bridge is also known as the West Octoraro 1 Covered Bridge.
The 1878 structure was removed from the National Register of Historic Places
in 1986. (Oct 2004) |
