Sonestown Covered Bridge
Encyclopedia
The Sonestown Covered Bridge is a Burr arch truss
covered bridge
over Muncy Creek
in Davidson Township, Sullivan County
, in the U.S. state
of Pennsylvania
. Built circa 1850, the bridge is 110 feet (33.5 m) long, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
(NRHP) in 1980. The bridge is named for the nearby unincorporated
village
of Sonestown in Davidson Township, and is also known as the Davidson Covered Bridge. It was built to provide access to a gristmill
, which operated until the early 20th century.
Pennsylvania had the first covered bridge in the United States and the most such bridges in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. In most places in the state they were a transition between stone and metal bridges, with the roof and sides protecting the wooden structure from weather. The Sonestown bridge is a Burr arch truss type, with a load-bearing
arch
sandwiching multiple vertical king posts, for strength and rigidity. The bridge construction is cruder than the other two surviving covered bridges in Sullivan County, with each Burr arch formed from six straight beams set at angles instead of a smooth curve.
The bridge was repaired circa 1969, and after flood damage in 1996 and 2005. It was also restored in 2001. Despite the repairs and restoration, as of 2006 the bridge structure's sufficiency rating on the National Bridge Inventory
was only 18.6 percent and its condition was deemed "basically intolerable requiring high priority of corrective action". It is the shortest covered bridge in the county and is still in use, with average daily traffic of 50 vehicles in 2006.
. The village of Sonestown is 1 miles (1.6 km) north of the bridge on Route 220 and has given the Sonestown Covered Bridge its name. The bridge is also 1 miles (1.6 km) east of the village of Muncy Valley along Route 220. Its official name on the NRHP is Sonestown Covered Bridge. It is also known as the Davidson Covered Bridge, for its township. Sullivan County is located in north central Pennsylvania, about 123 miles (197.9 km) northwest of Philadelphia and 195 miles (313.8 km) east-northeast of Pittsburgh.
The area that became Davidson Township was first settled in 1806 and was incorporated as a township in 1833. Within the township, George Sones built a sawmill and founded the unincorporated village of Sonestown in 1843. All of these events occurred before Sullivan County was formed from part of Lycoming County
on March 14, 1847. The bridge was built in 1850, and in the late 19th century Sonestown "boomed like crazy" as the lumber industry grew in Sullivan County. The village was then home to a plant that manufactured the staves for making barrels. It had a clothespin factory from 1903 to 1929 but lost almost all industry by the 1930s. As of 1996, Sonestown had a population of about 200, most of whom commuted to work in Muncy
, Montoursville
, and Williamsport
. In 1996 the village had a few stores, an inn with a restaurant, and attracted tourists and hunters.
in Philadelphia. According to Susan M. Zacher, author of The Covered Bridges of Pennsylvania: A Guide, the first covered bridges of the Burr arch truss design 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. In 2001, Pennsylvania had more surviving historic covered bridges than any other state, with 221 remaining in 40 of its 67 counties.
Covered bridges were a transition between stone and metal bridges, the latter made of cast-iron or steel. In 19th-century Pennsylvania, lumber was an abundant resource for bridge construction, but wood did not last long when exposed to the elements. The roof and enclosed sides of covered bridges protected the structural elements, allowing some of these bridges to survive for well over a century. A Burr arch truss consists of a load-bearing
arch
sandwiching multiple king posts, resulting in a stronger and more rigid structure than one made of either element alone. Although there were 30 covered bridges in Sullivan County in 1890, only five were left by 1954, and as of 2008 only three remain: Forksville
, Hillsgrove
, and Sonestown.
to provide access to Johnny Hazen's gristmill, which was also built in 1850. Although sources do not list the builder of the Sonestown bridge, a 1997 newspaper article on the remaining Sullivan County covered bridges reported that Sadler Rodgers had designed it. Rogers, a native of Forksville
, built both the Forksville and Hillsgrove bridges in 1850, when he was 18 years old.
On July 24, 1980, the Sonestown bridge was listed on the NRHP in a Multiple Property Submission of seven Covered Bridges of Bradford, Sullivan and Lycoming Counties
. The Sonestown bridge is also on the 2006 National Bridge Inventory (NBI), which lists the covered bridge as 110 feet (33.5 m) long, with a roadway 13 in 6 in (4.11 m) wide, and a maximum load of 5 short tons (4.5 MT). However, the maximum load posted beside the bridge itself is only 3 short tons (2.7 MT). According to the NRHP, the bridge's "road surface width" is 15 feet (4.6 m), which is only sufficient for a single lane of traffic.
According to the NRHP form, the Sonestown bridge "is of lighter construction than similar bridges in south-eastern Pennsylvania". The covered bridge rests on abutment
s of stone and mortar, which have been reinforced with concrete. The portals are flanked by wing wall
s below the level of the road; these extend out from the abutments at an angle and "retain the soil of the approach embankment".
The bridge deck is made of wide boards laid perpendicular to the axis of the bridge, with two runners on top of the deck which run the length of the bridge. The Burr arches which support the bridge are cruder than those in the other two Sullivan County covered bridges; they are not smooth "continuous arcs, but several straight segments joined at an angle". The top of the Burr arch on the south (downstream) side of the bridge is noticeably lower than the top of the arch on the north (upstream) side.
Vertical boards cover the sides and portals of the bridge and are painted red. The bridge has no windows but does have openings between the eaves and the siding which run the length of the bridge on both sides. The gable roof is covered with wooden shake shingles
. A sign listing the vertical clearance as 10 in 0 in (3.05 m) is posted above each portal. The bridge has no steel reinforcements.
Attitudes towards covered bridges in Sullivan County changed considerably in the last half of the 20th century. Two of the five bridges that remained in 1954 were razed by 1970, when the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
considered tearing down the Forksville bridge (but renovated it because of its historic nature and appeal to tourists). The Hillsgrove Covered Bridge was added to the NRHP in 1973, and the two other bridges were added in 1980. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission requires its approval for renovation work on NRHP bridges in the state, and forbids the destruction of these bridges.
In the 19th century the Sonestown Covered Bridge survived major floods on March 1, 1865 and June 1, 1889, that destroyed other bridges in the West Branch Susquehanna River valley. The latter flood was caused by the same storm system that caused the Johnstown Flood
, which killed over 2,200 people. In 1885, the Williamsport and North Branch Railroad
line along Muncy Creek reached Sonestown, passing just east of the bridge. The railroad carried lumber, coal, and passengers until it closed in 1938.
The covered bridge was built to provide access to a gristmill, and the 1915 state highway map of Sullivan County shows a mill just downstream of the bridge on the east bank of Muncy Creek. The 1941 map (using data from 1939) no longer shows a water-powered mill there, although it does show two buildings on the east bank of the creek, with one just upstream and one just downstream of the bridge. Both of these buildings had disappeared by 1999. The NRHP form states that the bridge had been recently repaired in 1969, and that additional maintenance work was needed. The repairs done at that time included replacing some of the siding panels, reinforcing the abutments with concrete, and "very minor addition of steel to the truss structure".
In January 1996, there was major flooding throughout Pennsylvania. A blizzard
from January 6–8 produced up to 40 inches (101.6 cm) of snow, which was followed on January 19–21 by more than 3 inches (76.2 mm) of rain with temperatures as high as 62 °F (16.7 °C) and winds up to 38 miles per hour (17 m/s). The rain and snowmelt caused flooding throughout Pennsylvania, and ice jams
made the flooding worse on many streams. In neighboring Lycoming County, flooding on Lycoming Creek
in and near Williamsport killed six and caused millions of dollars in damage, and an ice jam on Plunketts Creek
destroyed a mid-19th century stone arch bridge
which was also on the NRHP.
The pressure of the flood on the Sonestown Covered Bridge moved the center of the structure almost 1 foot (0.3048 m) downstream. This and other major damage closed the bridge from January until late December, 1996. It was one of 69 publicly-owned bridges in Pennsylvania destroyed or closed by the flooding. Sullivan County owns the bridge and paid for its repair, which was mandated by the state since it is listed on the NRHP. The original bid was for $93,000, and the repair was done by Lycoming Supply Inc. of Williamsport for $89,000 over 60 days between mid-November and Christmas. The bridge's closure caused a 5 miles (8 km) detour for those who normally used the bridge to reach their homes and businesses.
Even after the repair was completed, vehicles that were heavier or larger than the bridge’s original limits could not use it. Since beer trucks could not cross it, deliveries to the American Legion
Post southeast of the bridge were made with a hand cart instead. On November 12, 2000, a new "Veterans Memorial Bridge" just downstream of the covered bridge was dedicated. The new bridge is also part of Champion Hill Road (Township Road 310), and allows all vehicles to cross Muncy Creek.
According to NBI data, the covered bridge was restored in 2001. In September 2004, flooding from Hurricane Ivan
followed by heavy rains in April 2005 made a hole in one of the covered bridge's abutments and weakened a structural support. Repair work took six weeks and was done by mid-August 2005. August of that same year saw placement of riprap
and fill in the creek to further protect the abutments, with the work done by Rexer's Drilling and Concrete of Dushore
for $9,250. Erosion in September 2004 had destroyed a house 200 feet (61 m) upstream of the bridge, so the Sullivan County Commissioners planned additional work to stabilize the creek bed and prevent further erosion damage. The work, on private property and requiring permission from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
, was done in the summer of 2006.
The NRHP form describes the bridge's condition as "fair" in 1969 and "good" in 1980. Zacher's 1994 book and the Evans 2001 book also listed it as in "good" condition. Despite this and the repairs and restoration, 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 (the potential for the stream washing them out), but that the railing "does not meet currently acceptable standards". Its overall condition was deemed "basically intolerable requiring high priority of corrective action", with an estimated cost to improve the bridge of $108,000.
In 1996 there was a tradition of decorating and lighting the Sonestown bridge for Christmas. The average daily traffic on the bridge was 50 vehicles in 2006. As of 2008, it was still used and was the only remaining covered bridge over Muncy Creek, although the Muncy Creek watershed
also had the Lairdsville Covered Bridge
, which spanned Little Muncy Creek
in Lycoming County. According to Zacher, the "Sullivan County bridges, because of their settings, are some of the most attractive in the state".
The bridge was damaged when Muncy Creek flooded from over 12 inches (30.5 cm) of rainfall caused by Tropical Storm Lee
on September 7, 2011.
The following table is a comparison of published measurements of length, width and load recorded in different sources using different methods, as well as the name or names cited. The NBI measures bridge length between the "backwalls of abutments" or the pavement grooves at the opposite ends of the bridge. It defines the roadway width as "the most restrictive minimum distance between curbs or rails". The NRHP form was prepared by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
(PHMC), which surveyed county engineers, historical and covered bridge societies, and others for all the covered bridges in the commonwealth. The Evans visited every covered bridge in Pennsylvania in 2001 and measured each bridge's length (portal to portal) and width (at the portal) for their book. The data in Zacher's book was based on a 1991 survey of all covered bridges in Pennsylvania by the PHMC and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, aided by local government and private agencies. The article uses primarily the NBI and NRHP data, as they are national programs.
Burr Truss
The Burr Arch Truss — or simply Burr Truss or Burr Arch — is a combination of an arch and a multiple kingpost truss design. It was invented in 1804 by Theodore Burr, patented on April 3, 1817, and used in bridges, usually covered bridges....
covered bridge
Covered bridge
A covered bridge is a bridge with enclosed sides and a roof, often accommodating only a single lane of traffic. Most covered bridges are wooden; some newer ones are concrete or metal with glass sides...
over Muncy Creek
Muncy Creek
Muncy Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Lycoming and Sullivan counties, Pennsylvania, USA. Little Muncy Creek is its major tributary.-Course:The creek is long. For much of its length, U.S. Route 220 runs parallel to Muncy Creek....
in Davidson Township, Sullivan County
Sullivan County, Pennsylvania
Sullivan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population is 6,428. Sullivan County was created on March 15, 1847, from part of Lycoming County and named for Charles Sullivan, leader of the Pennsylvania Senate...
, in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Built circa 1850, the bridge is 110 feet (33.5 m) long, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
(NRHP) in 1980. The bridge is named for the nearby unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of Sonestown in Davidson Township, and is also known as the Davidson Covered Bridge. It was built to provide access to a gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
, which operated until the early 20th century.
Pennsylvania had the first covered bridge in the United States and the most such bridges in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. In most places in the state they were a transition between stone and metal bridges, with the roof and sides protecting the wooden structure from weather. The Sonestown bridge is a Burr arch truss type, with a load-bearing
Structural engineering
Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....
arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
sandwiching multiple vertical king posts, for strength and rigidity. The bridge construction is cruder than the other two surviving covered bridges in Sullivan County, with each Burr arch formed from six straight beams set at angles instead of a smooth curve.
The bridge was repaired circa 1969, and after flood damage in 1996 and 2005. It was also restored in 2001. Despite the repairs and restoration, as of 2006 the bridge structure's sufficiency rating on the National Bridge Inventory
National Bridge Inventory
The National Bridge Inventory is a database, compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, with information on all bridges and tunnels in the United States that have roads passing above or below. This is similar to the grade crossing identifier number database compiled by the Federal Railroad...
was only 18.6 percent and its condition was deemed "basically intolerable requiring high priority of corrective action". It is the shortest covered bridge in the county and is still in use, with average daily traffic of 50 vehicles in 2006.
Overview
The covered bridge crosses Muncy Creek in Davidson Township on Champion Hill Road (Township Road 310), just east of U.S. Route 220U.S. Route 220
U.S. Route 220 is a long U.S. Route in the eastern United States.US 220 is a spur route of U.S. Route 20 but at present, the two routes do not intersect nor do they connect via other spurs of US 20. The former U. S. Route 120, which was signed in Pennsylvania between 1926 and 1967, intersected...
. The village of Sonestown is 1 miles (1.6 km) north of the bridge on Route 220 and has given the Sonestown Covered Bridge its name. The bridge is also 1 miles (1.6 km) east of the village of Muncy Valley along Route 220. Its official name on the NRHP is Sonestown Covered Bridge. It is also known as the Davidson Covered Bridge, for its township. Sullivan County is located in north central Pennsylvania, about 123 miles (197.9 km) northwest of Philadelphia and 195 miles (313.8 km) east-northeast of Pittsburgh.
Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
-Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Plateau:Lycoming County is divided between the Appalachian Mountains in the south, the dissected Allegheny Plateau in the north and east, and the valley of the West Branch Susquehanna River between these.-West Branch Susquehanna River:The West Branch of the...
on March 14, 1847. The bridge was built in 1850, and in the late 19th century Sonestown "boomed like crazy" as the lumber industry grew in Sullivan County. The village was then home to a plant that manufactured the staves for making barrels. It had a clothespin factory from 1903 to 1929 but lost almost all industry by the 1930s. As of 1996, Sonestown had a population of about 200, most of whom commuted to work in Muncy
Muncy, Pennsylvania
For other places named 'Muncy', please see Muncy .Muncy is a borough in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The name Muncy comes from the Munsee Indians who once lived in the area. The population was 2,663 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania...
, Montoursville
Montoursville, Pennsylvania
Montoursville is a borough in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the borough population was 4,777. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was named for Madame Montour, a Native American leader and skilled interpreter...
, and Williamsport
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Williamsport is a city in and the county seat of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. In 2009, the population was estimated at 29,304...
. In 1996 the village had a few stores, an inn with a restaurant, and attracted tourists and hunters.
Background
The first covered bridge in the United States was built in 1800 over the Schuylkill RiverSchuylkill River
The Schuylkill River is a river in Pennsylvania. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River.The river is about long. Its watershed of about lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania. The source of its eastern branch is in the Appalachian Mountains at Tuscarora Springs, near Tamaqua in...
in Philadelphia. According to Susan M. Zacher, author of The Covered Bridges of Pennsylvania: A Guide, the first covered bridges of the Burr arch truss design 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. In 2001, Pennsylvania had more surviving historic covered bridges than any other state, with 221 remaining in 40 of its 67 counties.
Structural engineering
Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....
arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
sandwiching multiple king posts, resulting in a stronger and more rigid structure than one made of either element alone. Although there were 30 covered bridges in Sullivan County in 1890, only five were left by 1954, and as of 2008 only three remain: Forksville
Forksville Covered Bridge
The Forksville Covered Bridge is a Burr arch truss covered bridge over Loyalsock Creek in the borough of Forksville, Sullivan County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was built in 1850 and is in length. The bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980...
, Hillsgrove
Hillsgrove Covered Bridge
The Hillsgrove Covered Bridge is a Burr arch truss covered bridge over Loyalsock Creek in Hillsgrove Township, Sullivan County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was built circa 1850 and is long. In 1973, it became the first covered bridge in the county to be placed on the National Register of...
, and Sonestown.
Construction and description
All three Sullivan County covered bridges were built in or circa 1850 with Burr arch trusses. At the time of its construction, the Sonestown bridge was the fifth covered bridge in Sullivan County. The bridge crossed Muncy CreekMuncy Creek
Muncy Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Lycoming and Sullivan counties, Pennsylvania, USA. Little Muncy Creek is its major tributary.-Course:The creek is long. For much of its length, U.S. Route 220 runs parallel to Muncy Creek....
to provide access to Johnny Hazen's gristmill, which was also built in 1850. Although sources do not list the builder of the Sonestown bridge, a 1997 newspaper article on the remaining Sullivan County covered bridges reported that Sadler Rodgers had designed it. Rogers, a native of Forksville
Forksville, Pennsylvania
Forksville is a borough in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 145 at the 2010 census. It is the home of the 150 year old Forksville General Store, down the road from the Sullivan County Fairgrounds, and near Worlds End State Park...
, built both the Forksville and Hillsgrove bridges in 1850, when he was 18 years old.
On July 24, 1980, the Sonestown bridge was listed on the NRHP in a Multiple Property Submission of seven Covered Bridges of Bradford, Sullivan and Lycoming Counties
Covered Bridges of Bradford, Sullivan and Lycoming Counties
The Covered Bridges of Bradford, Sullivan and Lycoming Counties are seven covered bridges in northcentral Pennsylvania in the United States, which were included on the National Register of Historic Places in a Thematic Resources submission on July 24, 1980. One of the bridges is in Bradford...
. The Sonestown bridge is also on the 2006 National Bridge Inventory (NBI), which lists the covered bridge as 110 feet (33.5 m) long, with a roadway 13 in 6 in (4.11 m) wide, and a maximum load of 5 short tons (4.5 MT). However, the maximum load posted beside the bridge itself is only 3 short tons (2.7 MT). According to the NRHP, the bridge's "road surface width" is 15 feet (4.6 m), which is only sufficient for a single lane of traffic.
According to the NRHP form, the Sonestown bridge "is of lighter construction than similar bridges in south-eastern Pennsylvania". The covered bridge rests on abutment
Abutment
An abutment is, generally, the point where two structures or objects meet. This word comes from the verb abut, which means adjoin or having common boundary. An abutment is an engineering term that describes a structure located at the ends of a bridge, where the bridge slab adjoins the approaching...
s of stone and mortar, which have been reinforced with concrete. The portals are flanked by wing wall
Wing wall
A wing wall is a smaller wall attached or next to a larger wall or structure.-Bridges:In a bridge, the wing walls are adjacent to the abutments and act as retaining walls.They are generally constructed of the same material as those of abutments...
s below the level of the road; these extend out from the abutments at an angle and "retain the soil of the approach embankment".
Vertical boards cover the sides and portals of the bridge and are painted red. The bridge has no windows but does have openings between the eaves and the siding which run the length of the bridge on both sides. The gable roof is covered with wooden shake shingles
Shake (shingle)
A shake is a basic wooden shingle that is made from split logs. Shakes have traditionally been used for roofing and siding applications around the world. Higher grade shakes are typically used for roofing purposes, while the lower grades are used for siding purposes...
. A sign listing the vertical clearance as 10 in 0 in (3.05 m) is posted above each portal. The bridge has no steel reinforcements.
Attitudes towards covered bridges in Sullivan County changed considerably in the last half of the 20th century. Two of the five bridges that remained in 1954 were razed by 1970, when the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Barry Schoch Presently, PennDOT supports over of state roads and highways, about 25,000...
considered tearing down the Forksville bridge (but renovated it because of its historic nature and appeal to tourists). The Hillsgrove Covered Bridge was added to the NRHP in 1973, and the two other bridges were added in 1980. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission requires its approval for renovation work on NRHP bridges in the state, and forbids the destruction of these bridges.
Use and restoration
Johnstown Flood
The Johnstown Flood occurred on May 31, 1889. It was the result of the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam situated upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA, made worse by several days of extremely heavy rainfall...
, which killed over 2,200 people. In 1885, the Williamsport and North Branch Railroad
Williamsport and North Branch Railroad
The Williamsport and North Branch Railroad was a short line that operated in north-central Pennsylvania between 1872 and 1937. After a long struggle to finance its construction, it was completed in 1893. It derived most of its freight revenue from logging and to a certain extent from anthracite...
line along Muncy Creek reached Sonestown, passing just east of the bridge. The railroad carried lumber, coal, and passengers until it closed in 1938.
The covered bridge was built to provide access to a gristmill, and the 1915 state highway map of Sullivan County shows a mill just downstream of the bridge on the east bank of Muncy Creek. The 1941 map (using data from 1939) no longer shows a water-powered mill there, although it does show two buildings on the east bank of the creek, with one just upstream and one just downstream of the bridge. Both of these buildings had disappeared by 1999. The NRHP form states that the bridge had been recently repaired in 1969, and that additional maintenance work was needed. The repairs done at that time included replacing some of the siding panels, reinforcing the abutments with concrete, and "very minor addition of steel to the truss structure".
In January 1996, there was major flooding throughout Pennsylvania. A blizzard
North American blizzard of 1996
The Blizzard of 1996 was a severe nor'easter that paralyzed the U.S. East Coast with up to of wind-driven snow from January 6 to January 8, 1996. It was followed by another storm on January 12th, then unusually warm weather and torrential rain which caused rapid melting and river...
from January 6–8 produced up to 40 inches (101.6 cm) of snow, which was followed on January 19–21 by more than 3 inches (76.2 mm) of rain with temperatures as high as 62 °F (16.7 °C) and winds up to 38 miles per hour (17 m/s). The rain and snowmelt caused flooding throughout Pennsylvania, and ice jams
Ice dam
An ice dam occurs when water builds up behind a blockage of ice. Ice dams can occur in various ways.-Caused by a glacier:Sometimes a glacier flows down a valley to a confluence where the other branch carries an unfrozen river...
made the flooding worse on many streams. In neighboring Lycoming County, flooding on Lycoming Creek
Lycoming Creek
Lycoming Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located in Tioga and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania in the United States.-Geography:...
in and near Williamsport killed six and caused millions of dollars in damage, and an ice jam on Plunketts Creek
Plunketts Creek (Loyalsock Creek)
Plunketts Creek is an approximately tributary of Loyalsock Creek in Lycoming and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Two unincorporated villages and a hamlet are on the creek, and its watershed drains in parts of five townships...
destroyed a mid-19th century stone arch bridge
Plunketts Creek Bridge No. 3
Plunketts Creek Bridge No. 3 was a rubble masonry stone arch bridge over Plunketts Creek in Plunketts Creek Township, Lycoming County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was built between 1840 and 1875, probably closer to 1840, when the road along the creek between the unincorporated villages of...
which was also on the NRHP.
Even after the repair was completed, vehicles that were heavier or larger than the bridge’s original limits could not use it. Since beer trucks could not cross it, deliveries to the American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
Post southeast of the bridge were made with a hand cart instead. On November 12, 2000, a new "Veterans Memorial Bridge" just downstream of the covered bridge was dedicated. The new bridge is also part of Champion Hill Road (Township Road 310), and allows all vehicles to cross Muncy Creek.
According to NBI data, the covered bridge was restored in 2001. In September 2004, flooding from Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...
followed by heavy rains in April 2005 made a hole in one of the covered bridge's abutments and weakened a structural support. Repair work took six weeks and was done by mid-August 2005. August of that same year saw placement of riprap
Riprap
Riprap — also known as rip rap, rubble, shot rock or rock armour or "Rip-rap" — is rock or other material used to armor shorelines, streambeds, bridge abutments, pilings and other shoreline structures against scour, water or ice erosion.It is made from a variety of rock types, commonly granite or...
and fill in the creek to further protect the abutments, with the work done by Rexer's Drilling and Concrete of Dushore
Dushore, Pennsylvania
Dushore is a borough in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The population was 608 at the 2010 census. Dushore is home to Sullivan County's only traffic light.-Geography:Dushore is located at ....
for $9,250. Erosion in September 2004 had destroyed a house 200 feet (61 m) upstream of the bridge, so the Sullivan County Commissioners planned additional work to stabilize the creek bed and prevent further erosion damage. The work, on private property and requiring permission from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection was established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for protecting and preserving the land, air, water, and energy resources through enforcement of the State's environmental laws...
, was done in the summer of 2006.
The NRHP form describes the bridge's condition as "fair" in 1969 and "good" in 1980. Zacher's 1994 book and the Evans 2001 book also listed it as in "good" condition. Despite this and the repairs and restoration, the 2006 Federal Highway Administration
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program...
National Bridge Inventory
National Bridge Inventory
The National Bridge Inventory is a database, compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, with information on all bridges and tunnels in the United States that have roads passing above or below. This is similar to the grade crossing identifier number database compiled by the Federal Railroad...
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
Bridge scour
Bridge scour is the removal of sediment such as sand and rocks from around bridge abutments or piers. Scour, caused by swiftly moving water, can scoop out scour holes, compromising the integrity of a structure....
conditions (the potential for the stream washing them out), but that the railing "does not meet currently acceptable standards". Its overall condition was deemed "basically intolerable requiring high priority of corrective action", with an estimated cost to improve the bridge of $108,000.
In 1996 there was a tradition of decorating and lighting the Sonestown bridge for Christmas. The average daily traffic on the bridge was 50 vehicles in 2006. As of 2008, it was still used and was the only remaining covered bridge over Muncy Creek, although the Muncy Creek watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
also had the Lairdsville Covered Bridge
Lairdsville Covered Bridge
The Lairdsville Covered Bridge is a wooden covered bridge over Little Muncy Creek in Moreland Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was built in 1888 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980....
, which spanned Little Muncy Creek
Little Muncy Creek
Little Muncy Creek is the major tributary of Muncy Creek in Lycoming and Sullivan Counties, Pennsylvania, USA. Via Muncy Creek and the West Branch Susquehanna River, it is part of the Susquehanna River drainage basin and waters from it flow ultimately into the Chesapeake Bay.-Course:Little Muncy...
in Lycoming County. According to Zacher, the "Sullivan County bridges, because of their settings, are some of the most attractive in the state".
The bridge was damaged when Muncy Creek flooded from over 12 inches (30.5 cm) of rainfall caused by Tropical Storm Lee
Tropical Storm Lee (2011)
Tropical Storm Lee was the twelfth named storm and thirteenth system overall of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, developing from a broad tropical disturbance over the Gulf on September 1. It was designated as Tropical Storm Lee the next day...
on September 7, 2011.
Dimensions
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage...
(PHMC), which surveyed county engineers, historical and covered bridge societies, and others for all the covered bridges in the commonwealth. The Evans visited every covered bridge in Pennsylvania in 2001 and measured each bridge's length (portal to portal) and width (at the portal) for their book. The data in Zacher's book was based on a 1991 survey of all covered bridges in Pennsylvania by the PHMC and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, aided by local government and private agencies. The article uses primarily the NBI and NRHP data, as they are national programs.
| Length feet (m) |
Width feet (m) |
Load short tons (MT) |
Name used |
Source (Year) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110 feet (33.5 m) | 13 in 6 in (4.11 m) | 5 short tons (4.5 MT) | Sonestown | NBI (2006) |
| 99 feet (30.2 m) | 15 feet (4.6 m) | 3 short tons (2.7 MT) | Sonestown | NRHP (1980) |
| 118 in 9 in (36.2 m) | 14 in 6 in (4.42 m) | NA | Sonestown | Evans (2001) |
| 102 feet (31.1 m) | 15 feet (4.6 m) | NA | Sonestown | Zacher (1994) |