Sonestown Covered Bridge
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| Sonestown Covered Bridge | |
| National Register of Historic Places | |
 The Sonestown Covered Bridge over Muncy Creek
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| Official name: Sonestown Covered Bridge | |
| Named for: Village of Sonestown | |
| Country |  United States |
|---|---|
| State |  Pennsylvania |
| County | Sullivan |
| Township | Davidson |
| Road | TR 310 (single lane) |
| Crosses | Muncy Creek |
| Elevation | 933 ft (284 m) |
| Coordinates | [1] |
| Length | 110 ft (34 m) [2] |
| Width | 15.0 ft (4.6 m) [3] |
| Clearance | 10.0 ft (3 m) |
| Design | Burr Arch Truss Bridge |
| Material | Wood |
| Built | c. 1850 |
| - Restored | 1980, 1996 |
| Owned and Maintained by | Sullivan County |
| NBI Number | 567203031000020 [2] |
| WGCB Number | 38-57-03 [4] |
| Load | 3 tons (2.7 t) |
| Added to NRHP | July 24, 1980 |
| NRHP Ref# | 80003640 |
  Location of the Sonestown Covered Bridge in Pennsylvania
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| Wikimedia Commons: Sonestown Covered Bridge | |
The Sonestown Covered Bridge is a 110-foot (33.5 m) long Burr arch truss covered bridge over Muncy Creek in Davidson 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 1980.[3] The bridge is named for the nearby unincorporated village of Sonestown in Davidson Township.
While the builder of the bridge is unknown, it was built to provide access to a gristmill owned by Johnny Hazen. The bridge was restored in 1980 and 1996 and is still in use, with average daily traffic of 50 vehicles in 2006. It is the shortest 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 18.6 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 Sonestown.[5]
[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 circa 1850, to provide access to the gristmill owned by Johnny Hazen.[7] 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 Sonestown.[3][5]
[edit] Use and restoration
According to the NRHP form, the bridge was restored in 1980.[3] Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges: A Complete Guide reports the bridge was damaged in a flood in 1996 but repaired within 60 days by Lycoming Supply Inc. of Williamsport for USD$89,000. According to NBI data, the bridge was restored in 2001.[2]
Despite these restorations, the 2006 Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory found the sufficiency rating of the bridge structure to be only 18.6 percent. It found that the bridge's foundations were stable for scour conditions, but 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 50 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110 feet (33.5 m) | 13.5 feet (4.1 m) | 5.0 short tons (4.5 MT) | Sonestown | NBI (2006)[2] |
| 99 feet (30.2 m) | 15 feet (4.6 m) | 3.0 short tons (2.7 MT) | Sonestown | NRHP (1980)[3] |
| 118.9 feet (36.2 m) | 14.5 feet (4.4 m) | NA | Sonestown | Evans (2001)[5] |
| 102 feet (31.1 m) | 15 feet (4.6 m) | NA | Sonestown | Zacher (1994)[7] |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ United States Geological Survey. "USGS Sonestown (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: Davidson (Township of), Pennsylvania; NBI Structure Number: 567203031000020; Facility Carried: Sonestown; Feature Intersected: Muncy Creek". Nationalbridges.com (Alexander Svirsky). Retrieved on 2008-06-08. 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 2008-06-08.
- ^ a b c d e "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: Sonestown 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.
- ^ a b 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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