Pleasantville Covered Bridge 38-06-01
Description
One of five remaining covered wooden bridges in Berks County, the bridge is a contributing resource in the Oley Township Historic District. It is distinctive for its two-phase construction: an arch-stiffened pony truss completed in 1852 and covered by a different builder in 1856. With its three sets of stiffening arches, the bridge is a unique adaptation of Theodore's Burr's patented truss form.-- Historic American Engineering Record
Facts
- Overview
- Covered bridge over Little Manatawny Creek on PA 1030 (Covered Bridge Road)
- Location
- Berks County, Pennsylvania
- Status
- Open to traffic
- History
- Built 1852 as an uncovered bridge; covered in 1856
- Builders
- - David Renno (1852 superstructure)
- Jonathan Bitner (1856 modifications)
- Levi Marks (1852 substructure)
- Design
- Triple Burr arch truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 126.0 ft.
Total length: 142.0 ft.
Deck width: 16.5 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 11.9 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on February 23, 1981
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +40.37897, -75.73872 (decimal degrees)
40°22'44" N, 75°44'19" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 18/437292/4470082 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Manatawny
- Inventory numbers
- NRHP 81000533 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
WGCB 38-06-01 (World Guide to Covered Bridges number)
PA 06 1030 0080 0000 (Pennsylvania Bridge Management System number)
BH 30411 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- July 10, 2019: New Street View added by Dana and Kay Klein
- January 22, 2015: HAER photos posted by Dave King
- March 3, 2014: New photos from Jack Schmidt
- March 2, 2014: Photo imported by Dave King
- February 26, 2007: Posted photos from James H. Fox
Sources
- Dana and Kay Klein
- James H. Fox
- HAER PA-491 - Pleasantville Covered Bridge, Spanning Little Manatawny Creek at Covered Bridge Road (State Route 1030), Manatawny vicinity, Berks County, PA
- Dale Travis Covered Bridge List
- Jack Schmidt - jjturtle [at] earthlink [dot] net
- HAER PA-491 - Pleasantville Covered Bridge, Spanning Little Manatawny Creek at Covered Bridge Road (State Route 1030), Manatawny, Berks County, PA
Comments
Unfortunately George, it happens here in Indiana also... Waaay too much! Lotta people driving big trucks that are unqualified to do so!
I'm not worried about it,Tony.At least they put height restriction bars up but like I said I can't believe truck drivers try and cross this bridge with over size and weight trucks.
Given the media's penchant for getting thing wrong I wouldn't be too concerned about it George.
I have a question that maybe somebody can answer.I noticed the height on the height bar in the pictures and on street view was listed as 11 feet 3 inches.In the local paper it was listed as 10 feet 5 inches.When did they lower the height because I never heard of that?
Just read an article that said this bridge will be closed for a couple of days after a garbage truck struck the height-restriction barrier.This was the second time within a week that the barrier was struck by a high-profile vehicle.The county was planning to repair damage from the first incident but before work could begin it was struck again.Trucks have damaged this bridge several times since it was reopened in 2004 after spending $2.2 million to rebuild this 126-foot-long span.Again,the posted height restriction is 10 feet 5 inches which is posted on the height restriction bar.I guess the question everybody has is why any high-profile truck is hitting this bridge?I just don't get it.
Just read in today's paper that this bridge is reopened after damage to the height restriction bar was fixed.Goes to show how height restriction bars can come in handy when it comes to protecting both truss and covered bridges.By the way,the driver is still going to be cited and most likely have to pay for damages.
Read in this mornings local paper that this bridge is closed indefinitely due to a high profile truck hitting one of the height restriction barriers which also damaged the bridges abutments.The driver stopped and will be cited.As far as I know the covered bridge itself wasn't damaged.I'll let everybody know when I hear or read anything about this bridge.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/pa/berks/pleasantville/
Tony,i totally agree.Makes you wonder if they got their CDL's at Wal-Mart instead of the DMV.