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Richard's or Reichard, Columbia County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

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Inventory Number: PA/38-19-41 / PA-49-07
County: Columbia County / Northumberland County
Township: Cleveland - Ralpho
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: Richard's or Reichard
Crosses: Roaring Creek, South Branch
Truss type: Multiple King & Queen
Spans: 1
Length: 64', 63'-8" overall, 47' span
Roadway Width: 11'
Built: 1852
Builder: Ulidial S. Campbell
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N40 52.047
Longitude: W076 30.482
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 2.1 miles northeast of jct PA54 on PA487, then 0.8 miles right on Jepko Rd. (T805 in Northumberland County) and Campground Rd. (T337 in Columbia County). East of Elysburg, 1 mile south of Knoebels Grove Park.

Richards Bridge, Cleveland\ Rapho, PA. Built 1875
Bill Caswell Photo

Richards Bridge, Cleveland-Rapho, PA Built c1871
© Lisa Plamondon

Richard's Bridge, Cleveland-Ralpho, Columbia County, PA. Built 1852
Tom and Linda Burns Photo, September 8, 1985

Richard's or Reichard Bridge, Cleveland-Ralpho, Columbia County, PA Built 1852
Bucknell University: Nelson F. Davis Covered Bridges Photograph Collection, August 19, 1936

Comments:
Northumberland County #17 or Columbia County #31. Built in 1852 by Ulidial S. Campbell for $692.00. There are some unique characteristics to this bridge. First is the truss type. Some sources list it as a Modified Queenpost. It actually looks like a Multiple Kingpost Variant with a Queenpost-like arrangement of timbers attached to the inside of each truss at the roadway that act on the truss similar to Burr's. The bridge is also skewed, that is, the ends are off perpendicular to the trusses. There is no other covered bridge in Pennsylvania with this feature.

Sources:
Evans, Benjamin D. & June R.. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges, 2001, page 122
Travis, Dale. Pennsylvania Covered Bridges List, updated to 26 Aug 2004, http://www.dalejtravis.com/cblist/cbpa.htm (23 Sep 2004)
Moll, Fred J.. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges - Our Heritage, 2004, pages 92-93
Kipphorn, Thomas. Information received by email, March 2009
Kipphorn, Thomas. Information received by email, April 2006
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 111

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