Hillsgrove Covered Bridge
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| Hillsgrove Covered Bridge | |
| Rinkers Covered Bridge | |
| National Register of Historic Places | |
 The Hillsgrove Covered Bridge over Loyalsock Creek
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| Official name: Hillsgrove Covered Bridge | |
| Named for: Village of Hillsgrove | |
| Country |  United States |
|---|---|
| State |  Pennsylvania |
| County | Sullivan |
| Township | Elkland |
| Road | TR 357 (single lane) |
| Crosses | Loyalsock Creek |
| Elevation | 880 ft (268 m) |
| Coordinates | [1] |
| Length | 186 ft (57 m) [2] |
| Width | 18.0 ft (5.5 m) [3] |
| Clearance | 8.0 ft (2.4 m) |
| Builder | Sadler Rodgers |
| Design | Burr Arch Truss Bridge |
| Material | Wood |
| Built | c. 1850 |
| - Restored | 1963, 2001 |
| Owned and Maintained by | Sullivan County |
| NBI Number | 567207035700040 [2] |
| WGCB Number | 38-57-02 [4] |
| Load | 3 tons (2.7 t) |
| Added to NRHP | July 2, 1973 |
| NRHP Ref# | 73001666 |
  Location of the Hillsgrove Covered Bridge in Pennsylvania
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| Wikimedia Commons: Hillsgrove Covered Bridge | |
The Hillsgrove Covered Bridge is a 186-foot (56.7 m) long Burr arch truss covered bridge over Loyalsock Creek in Elkland Township, Sullivan County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was built circa 1850 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The bridge is named for the nearby unincorporated village of Hillsgrove in neighboring Hillsgrove Township, and is also known as Rinkers Covered Bridge for an adjoining farm.
It was built by Sadler Rodgers, who also constructed the nearby Forksville Covered Bridge in the same year, with a similar design. The bridge was restored in 1963 and 2001 and is still in use, with average daily traffic of 54 vehicles in 2006. It is the longest of three covered bridges remaining in Sullivan County. Despite the restorations, as of 2006 the bridge structure's sufficiency rating on the National Bridge Inventory was only 16.5 percent and its condition was deemed "[b]asically intolerable requiring high priority of corrective action".[2]
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[edit] Name
The bridge is named for the nearby village of Hillsgrove.[5] The alternate name comes from the Rinker farm, which was once located at end of the bridge.
[edit] History
[edit] Background
The first covered bridge in the United States was built over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1800. Some of the first Burr arch truss covered bridges were also built in the state. Pennsylvania is estimated to have once had at least 1,500 covered bridges, and is believed to have had the most in the country between 1830 and 1875.[6] In 2001 Pennsylvania had more surviving historic covered bridges than any other state, with 221 remaining in 40 of the commonwealth's 67 counties.[5]
Covered bridges were a transition between stone and cast-iron and steel bridges. In 19th-century Pennsylvania, lumber was an abundant resource for bridge construction,[6] but did not last long when exposed to weather and the elements. The roof and enclosed sides of covered bridges protected the structural elements, allowing some of these bridges to survive well over a century. A Burr arch truss consists of a load-bearing arch sandwiching multiple King posts, resulting in a bridge which is both stronger and more rigid than one built using either element alone.[5]
[edit] Construction and description
The Hillsgrove Covered Bridge was built in 1850 by Sadler Rodgers, who also built the similar Forksville Covered Bridge. Both of these are Burr arch truss covered bridges across Loyalsock Creek in Sullivan County, with the Hillsgrove bridge downstream of the Forksville bridge. Although there were 30 covered bridges in Sullivan County in 1890, as of 2008 there are only three left, all built in 1850: Forksville, Hillsgrove, and the Sonestown Covered Bridge.[3][5]
[edit] Use and restoration
A sign posted on the east portal of the bridge preserves the following historic limits on its use:
Notice: All persons are forbidden to ride drive or lead any animal over this bridge faster than a walk or to drive more than 15 head of cattle horses or mules thereon at one time or to carry fire thereon except in a safe vessel under a penalty of not less than $.30 for each offence
According to the NBI data, the bridge was restored in 1963.[2] In 2001, the US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration awarded USD$360,000 for 80 percent of the restoration costs of the Hillsgrove Covered Bridge under the Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Program.[7]
Despite the restoration, the 2006 Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory found the sufficiency rating of the bridge structure to be only 16.5 percent. It found that the bridge's foundations were "unstable for calculated scour conditions ", that the railing "[d]oes not meet currently acceptable standards".[2] Its overall condition was deemed "[b]asically intolerable requiring high priority of corrective action", with an estimated cost to improve the bridge of $108,000.[2]
The bridge is still used, and its average daily traffic was 54 vehicles in 2006.[2]
[edit] Literature comparison
The following table is a comparison of published measurements of length, width, and load of the Cogan House Covered Bridge, as well as the name or names cited. The article uses primarily the NBI and NRHP data, as they are national programs, fairly recent, and presumed most accurate.
| Length feet (m) |
Width feet (m) |
Load short tons (MT) |
Name used |
Source (Year) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 186 feet (56.7 m) | 12.1 feet (3.7 m) | 5.0 short tons (4.5 MT) | Hillsgrove | NBI (2006)[2] |
| 171 feet (52.1 m) | 18 feet (5.5 m) | 3.0 short tons (2.7 MT) | Hillsgrove | NRHP (1980)[3] |
| 185.6 feet (56.6 m) | 15 feet (4.6 m) | NA | Hillsgrove, Rinkers | Evans (2001)[5] |
| 152 feet (46.3 m) | 18 feet (5.5 m) | NA | Hillsgrove | Zacher (1994)[8] |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ United States Geological Survey. "USGS Hillsgrove (PA) Topo Map". TerraServer-USA and the National Map. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory (2006). "Place Name: Hillsgrove (Township of), Pennsylvania; NBI Structure Number: 567207035700040; Facility Carried: Woodcovered Bridge; Feature Intersected: Loyalsock Creek". Nationalbridges.com (Alexander Svirsky). Retrieved on 2008-06-06. Note: this is a formatted scrape of the 2006 official website, which can be found here for Pennsylvania: "PA06.txt". Federal Highway Administration (2006). Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
- ^ a b c "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). ARCH: Pennsylvania's Historic Architecture & Archeology. Retrieved on 2008-06-04. Note: This includes Susan M. Zacher, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Hillsgrove Covered Bridge" (PDF). Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
- ^ Evans, Benjamin D.; Evans, June R. (1993). Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges: A Complete Guide, 1st edition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Press, 255. ISBN 0822955040.
- ^ a b c d e Evans, Benjamin D. (2001). Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges: A Complete Guide, 2nd edition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-5764-7.
- ^ a b Susan M. Zacher, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Covered Bridges of Bradford, Sullivan and Lycoming Counties" (PDF). Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ James D. Cooper (September 26, 2001). "Information: Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Program - FY 2001 Project Selection". U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
- ^ Zacher, Susan M. (1994). The Covered Bridges of Pennsylvania: A Guide, 2nd edition, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. ISBN 0-89271-054-3.
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