Rating:
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Kidd's Mill Covered Bridge 38-43-01

Mercer County, Pennsylvania

Photos 

Overview

Photo taken by Jack Schmidt

BH Photo #108675

Map 

Street View 

Brief History 

Written by Sherman Cahal

The Kidd's Mill Covered Bridge, developed by Robert W. Smith, was constructed in 1868. In 1869, Smith received a second patent for his bridge design and established the Smith Bridge Company in Toledo, Ohio.

Kidd’s Mill Covered Bridge was bypassed in 1963 and originally slated for demolition by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Instead, a resolution was passed to protect the bridge as a historic landmark.

The bridge continued to carry light traffic, with the only noted repairs being the roof and west abutment in 1965. An overloaded truck fractured several truss members in 1979 and it was closed to traffic.

A study in 1984 suggested that the covered bridge was in danger of collapse due to deferred maintenance. In response, the Shenango Conservancy was formed in 1986 and in 1989, the county leased the covered bridge to the Conservancy for 99 years. The historic bridge was rehabilitated in 1990 and a park was developed around the site by the Conservancy in 1991.

Kidd’s Mill Covered Bridge is the easternmost and oldest of the 20 remaining Smith trusses in the United States and is the only remaining Type 2 Smith truss remaining.

Facts 

Overview
Covered bridge over Shenango River on Kidds Mill Road (TR 471)
Location
Mercer County, Pennsylvania
Status
Open to pedestrians only
Builder
- Smith Bridge Co. of Toledo, Ohio
Design
Covered Smith through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 118.6 ft.
Total length: 124.0 ft.
Deck width: 16.7 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 14.2 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on December 2, 1974
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.35345, -80.39787   (decimal degrees)
41°21'12" N, 80°23'52" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
17/550368/4578168 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Sharpsville
Inventory numbers
NRHP 74001793 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
WGCB 38-43-01 (World Guide to Covered Bridges number)
PA 43 7220 0471 1801 (Pennsylvania Bridge Management System number)
PANBI 26227 (Pennsylvania BRKEY bridge number on the 2011 NBI)
BH 31283 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of August 2016)
Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 22 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

19th Century (9,225)
Bridgemapper.com (1,325)
Built 1868 (132)
Built during 1860s (707)
Bypassed (190)
Covered (2,874)
Have street view (30,043)
Mercer County, Pennsylvania (75)
NR-listed (3,025)
Open to pedestrians (4,650)
 Owned by county (21,818)
Pennsylvania (6,352)
Shenango River (39)
Smith Bridge Co. (133)
Smith truss (78)
Span length 100-125 feet (4,645)
Structurally deficient (12,667)
Through truss (18,216)
Total length 100-125 feet (5,538)
Truss (37,251)

Update Log 

  • April 16, 2018: New photos from Richard Doody
  • March 21, 2017: Essay added by Sherman Cahal
  • November 8, 2015: New photos from Bill Eichelberger
  • March 5, 2014: Updated by Dave King: Added street view & imported photos
  • May 16, 2010: New photos from Brian McKee
  • March 5, 2007: Posted photos from Jack Schmidt

Sources 

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Comments 

Kidd's Mill Covered Bridge 38-43-01
Posted March 28, 2017, by Sherman Cahal (shermancahal [at] gmail [dot] com)

My pleasure!

Kidd's Mill Covered Bridge 38-43-01
Posted March 21, 2017, by Brian Manville

Thanks for the essay Sherman Cahal. I grew up not far from there and passed it about 100,000 times in my youth.

Kidd's Mill Covered Bridge
Posted January 7, 2014, by Luke Harden (lukemh9 [at] gmail [dot] com)

1979

Source: HAER Datasheet .PDF

Kidd's Mill Covered Bridge
Posted January 7, 2014, by Ron Johnson (ron [dot] johnosn [at] facebook [dot] com)

In what year was this bridge closed to all vehicals.