Bellbank Bridge

Infobox U.S. Covered Bridge
bridge=Bellbank Covered Bridge
bridge_

---

bridge_map_size=250px
state=Pennsylvania
county=Lancaster County
length=112
truss=Unknown
built=1850
builder=Robert Russell

Bellbank Covered Bridge was a covered bridge that spanned the Octoraro Creek on the border between Colerain Township, Lancaster County and Upper Oxford Township, Chester County in Pennsylvania. The 112 ft (34 m) bridge was located on Street Road near Pennsylvania Route 472. It was burnt and destroyed by an arsonist on March 19, 1979. The covered bridge was also referred to as Bridge #11 by Chester County before it was replaced with the current steel beam bridge.

History

The Bellbank Covered Bridge was built in 1850 over the Octoraro Creek by Robert Russell (who also rebuilt the Pine Grove Covered Bridge in 1846cite web
title = Pine Grove Covered Bridge
work = Lancaster County Pennsylvania Dutch Country Official Visitors Center
publisher = Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau
date = 2006
url = http://www.padutchcountry.com/member_pages/pine_grove_covered_bridge__.asp
accessdate = 2006-07-07 ] ). It was named after Revolutionary War Colonel James Patterson Bell, who had his home, gristmill, and sawmill located in the convert|1200|acre|km2|sing=on plot of land where the bridge was built. In June 1860 the bridge caught on fire after being struck by lightning. Russell received a contract to rebuild the bridge at a cost of $1,739.

Sometime in the 1960s the bridge was scheduled to be destroyed, but was instead rehabilitated. After it was destroyed by fire on March 19, 1979, the bridge, which was previously owned by Chester County, was finally replaced by an open steel-beam bridge after a failed petition to PennDOT by the community to rebuild it as a covered bridge. The fire was ruled as arson when a blackened gas can was found in the center of the burnt-out bridge. As of 2006, there is a movement to replace the current bridge with a replica of the original covered bridge.

References

*cite web
title = Beyond 41
work = SAVE Rt. 41, Southern Chester County, PA
publisher = S.A.V.E.
date = 2006
url = http://www.save41.org/beyond.htm
accessdate = 2006-10-02
*cite web
author = Robinson, Ryan
title = Rebirth of a covered bridge?
work = LancasterOnline.com : News
publisher = Lancaster Newspapers
date = 2006-09-30
url = http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/26288
accessdate = 2006-10-01