Stoudt'due south Ferry Covered Span

By FRED J. MOLL

During its time of existence Stoudt's Ferry Bridge had the distinction of existence the longest single span, wooden, covered bridge in the world.  Stoudt's Ferry Span measured 225 feet between abutments or 240 anxiety portal to portal. It also had the distinction of being built past the Schuylkill  Navigation Company mainly for the purpose of carrying the towpaths of the Schuylkill Canal beyond the Schuylkill River. This was the just major  covered bridge in the United states of america built for this purpose. The terrain changed at this point and the towpaths had to alter from one side of the  river to the other. In order to exercise this, a span had to be built and cloverleafs had to be designed to connect the towpaths to the bridge. The over- hanging roof over the towpaths of the bridge had to exist gratis from supports to forestall the towlines from being disconnected every time the mules  went over the bridge. The whole pattern was very carefully thought out. If Stoudt'southward Ferry Bridge would still be in existence today, it would be one  of Pennsylvania's major tourist attractions and most likely a national landmark. Even so, every bit they say, it was not in the cards.

An human action was passed in 1850 to incorporate Stout's (right spelling at that time co-ordinate to old newspapers) Ferry Bridge Visitor for the  purpose of building a bridge at the site of Stout's Ferry over the Schuy1ki11 River near Tuckerton. Notwithstanding, probably due to the lack of funding,  the span was not congenital for another vii years. On Monday August 4, 1856 the Stout'due south Ferry Bridge Company met in Leinbach's Tavern to give  out the building of their span by contract. Construction was begun 6.5 miles northward of Reading in 1856 by Batcheler, Bowen, and Wolverton and was completed by 1857.

According to the original specifications laid out past the Bridge Company, the post-obit information is known. The main bridge was to be 25 feet  above normal h2o level. The total width of the bridge was to be 34 feet. The middle roadway was to have a width of 14 feet while the two mule  walkways on either side were to exist 8 anxiety 6 inches each. A short xl-foot span was to be built adjacent to the primary span to afford an boosted  waterway in freshets.

Unfortunately sometime before the completion of the bridge a severe storm with high winds hit the expanse and damaged the bridge severely. The  bridge became v feet out of alignment and dropped over 1 foot in slant; in that location was doubtfulness whether or not the bridge should be completed.  Joseph F. Smith, engineer for the canal company, visited the span site, on May 2, 1857, to inspect the extra work that had to be washed if the  building of the bridge was to continue. The following work was done or had to exist done to correct the harm. He reported:

  1. Wedges of oak were driven betwixt the abutting ends of the lower chords to make full up where they parted.
  2. Diagonal skew back braces had been used on both sides of the bridge.
  3. Tie beams under the lower chords were suspended with bolts to the chords.
  4. The lower horizontal braces were shouldered and strongly wedged.
  5. The suspended portion of the towpaths across the intersection of the arches (lacking in not having enough supporting beams) was being  corrected.
  6. Cables were to be connected at the span ends to bring the span back into alignment.
  7. The camber had dropped to xv inches, and will remain there due to lack of power to restore it.

Mr. Smith also found other work that had to be corrected considering of the curt cuts taken past the carpenters. The bridge did not meet the  specifications fix forth in the original contract. "The arch timbers should accept run across three posts and should have required only 4 spiral  bolts through every fourth post and two in every two intermediate post. Instead they were cut short and now require iv bolts in every post to  secure the arch pieces of each set of arches." Defective splicing was constitute in the lower chords, and oak blocks were ordered to be put in place to  prevent move. Some bad pieces of floor planking had to be replaced. The lower horizontal braces had to exist replaced with new timber and  secured according to the original plans.

After the span was completed in July of 1857 over 2000 boats a year used the bridge during the canal's busiest years. Tolls for the span were equally follows; 1 cent for a person and 5 cents for a horse, or a yearly charge of 25 cents a person or $2.fifty to $6.00 for a farmer.

stoudts2While there was a very handsome stone house next to the bridge for the toll collector to live in, during the hot summer months the toll collector slept on the span. There was a fold down bed on the  span in which the toll collector slept. Under the bed was a wooden box in which his watchdog lived. Next to the bed there was a modest planing or  workbench on which small repairs could be made on the bridge. Side by side to the workbench was a gaslight and a cabinet containing carpenter tools.  The toll collector received $30.00 a month plus the apply of the tollhouse (or a bed on the bridge in the summertime if so desired). Tolls connected to be charged until June 9,1890, at which time the court declared the span to be  free of tolls.

As a side note, on June x, 1909 the 40-foot wooden approach span constituting the Muhlenberg approach to Stoudt's Ferry Covered Bridge  collapsed. Cyrus and George Roth, brothers, narrowly escaped with their lives. The ii men were hauling a load of manure across the construction  when it broke down. The 4 horses hitched to the railroad vehicle, the vehicle, and the men were precipitated to the roadbed leading to Charles Durell's  farm, 20 anxiety beneath. The arroyo bridge was rebuilt shortly thereafter.

After the culvert ceased operating, the bridge lost half of its usefulness and was neglected. Holes in the roof were not repaired and pelting rotted  some of the supporting beams of the bridge. Past March of 1945, the span was in such bad shape that a pecker was introduced in the State Capitol,  which would turn possession of the bridge over from the County to the State. It was intended that the Country Highway Section would and then repair  Stoudt'south Ferry Bridge, the longest unmarried-span wooden covered bridge in the world. Stoudt's Ferry Bridge was to go a celebrated and engineering landmark. But the lawmakers could non agree and did not act fast enough.

On Sat, September 11,1948 the canton commissioners closed the bridge to traffic subsequently local residents complained of hearing creaking  noises coming from the bridge. The Bern Township side of the span had fallen two feet. On Sunday, September 12, 1948 Stoudt'due south Ferry Span  collapsed into the river, never to become the national landmark it had deserved to be.

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2003 event of the Historical Review of Berks County.