Waterford Covered Bridge
| Waterford Covered Bridge | |
| Wattsburg Road, Old Kissing, Brotherton | |
 The bridge in July 2014
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Erie |
| Township | Waterford |
| Road | Niemeyer Road (T 463) |
| Crosses | LeBoeuf Creek |
| Coordinates | 41°56′28″N 79°57′48″W / 41.94111°N 79.96333°WCoordinates: 41°56′28″N 79°57′48″W / 41.94111°N 79.96333°W |
| Length | 85.9 ft (26 m) |
| - Mainspan | 78 ft (24 m) |
| Width | 14 ft (4 m) |
| Height | 10.3 ft (3 m) |
| Builder | Charles and James Phelps |
| Design | Town lattice truss |
| Material | Wood |
| Built | 1875 |
| - Added to NRHP | September 17, 1980 |
| - Closed | 2011 |
| Management | Waterford Township |
| NBI number | 000000000016497 |
| WGCB number | PA/38-25-04 |
| NRHP number | 80003492 |
| MPS | Covered Bridges of Erie County Thematic Resource |
 Location of the Waterford Covered Bridge in Pennsylvania
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The Waterford Covered Bridge is a Town lattice truss covered bridge spanning LeBoeuf Creek in Waterford Township, Erie County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The bridge was built in 1875, and is 85 feet 11 inches (26.2 m) in length. The Waterford Covered Bridge is one of two remaining covered bridges in Erie County, along with the Harrington Covered Bridge. The bridge is also the only Town lattice truss bridge in the county and one of only 19 in Pennsylvania. It was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1936 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. In 2011, the bridge was closed due to its deteriorating condition.
The Waterford Covered Bridge is situated southeast of the borough of Waterford in Waterford Township. The bridge spans the 78 feet (24 m) over LeBoeuf Creek, and has an overall length of 85 feet 11 inches (26.2 m). It is 15 feet 1 inch (4.6 m) wide and carries a single lane of Niemeyer Road (Township Road 463). The road deck itself is 13 feet 5 inches (4.1 m) wide, and is made up of "transverse decking" and a pair of 2-foot-wide (1 m), linear runners to reduce the noise from loose boards and to guide automobiles. The bridge only has clearance of 10 feet 4 inches (3.1 m), which has played a role in repeated collisions by oversized vehicles.
The bridge was designed by Richard Cross using a Town lattice truss. The truss consists of a lattice of beams crossing at 45 to 60-degree angles and connected by wooden pins. There are only nineteen bridges remaining in Pennsylvania using the Town lattice, and the Waterford Covered Bridge is only one in Erie County. It is the also the only covered bridge in the county to have been painted, with the exterior of the bridge painted barn red. The bridge also has "an unusual, blue, metal pipe structure" attached to the abutments on the bridge's south side. The structure is supported with a king post framework and, presumably, connects to nearby pipelines.
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Wikipedia