Gudgeonville Covered Bridge

Geobox|Bridge
name = Gudgeonville Covered Bridge
official_name = Gudgeonville Covered Bridge
other_name = Gudgeonville Road
category = U.S. National Register of Historic Places

---

image_size = 300
caption =
country = United States
country_

state = Pennsylvania
state_

region_type = County
region_label = County/Counties in which the site lies
region = Erie
municipality_type = Township
municipality_label = Township/Townships in which the site lies
municipality = Girard
parent_typed = Road
road = Township 400
road_note = (single lane)
river_type = Crosses
river = Elk Creek
length_imperial = 84
length_note = cite web |author=Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory |title=Place Name: Girard (Township of), Pennsylvania NBI Structure Number: 257207040040080; Facility Carried: T-400, Gudgeonville Feature Intersected: Elk Creek |publisher=Nationalbridges.com (Alexander Svirsky) |date=2007 |accessdate=2007-09-14|url=http://nationalbridges.com/nbi_record.php?StateCode=42&struct=257207040040080 "Note": this is a formatted scrape of the 2006 official website, which can be found here for Pennsylvania: cite web |url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/nbi/2006/PA06.txt |title=PA06.txt |date=2006 |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |accessdate=2008-06-07]
length1_imperial = 72
length1_type = Mainspan
length1_note =
width_imperial = 14
width_note =
height_type = Clearance
height_imperial = 10
height_note =
style_type = Design
style = Multiple King-post Truss Bridge
author_label = Builder / Architect
author_type = Builder
author = William Sherman
material = Wood
lat_d = 41
lat_m = 58
lat_s = 56
lat_NS = N
long_d = 80
long_m = 16
long_s = 01
long_EW = W
established_type = Built
established_label = Year of construction
established = 1868
established1_type = Rebuilt
established1_ label = Year of reconstruction
established1 = 1870s
management_type = Owned and Maintained by
management = Girard Township
code_type = NBI Number
code_label = National Bridge Inventory identification number
code = [http://nationalbridges.com/nbi_record.php?StateCode42&struct257207040040080 257207040040080]
code1_type = WGCB Number
code1_label = World Guide to Covered Bridges indentification number
code1 = 38-25-03
code2_type = NRHP Ref Number
code2_label = Reference number for the National Register of Historic Places
code2 = 80003491
free_type = Load
free_label = Max allowable load limit
free = convert|5|ST|MT|lk=on
free_note =
free1_type = Added to NRHP
free1_label = Date added to the National Register of Historic Places
free1_note =
free1 = 1980-09-17
free2_type = MPS
free2_label = Multiple Property Submission
free2 = Covered Bridges of Erie County TR


map_size = 300
map_caption = Location of the Gudgeonville Covered Bridge in Pennsylvania
map_locator = Pennsylvania
commons = Gudgeonville Covered Bridge

The Gudgeonville Covered Bridge is a convert|84|ft|1|adj=on long Multiple King-post Truss covered bridge over Elk Creek in Girard Township, Erie County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was built in 1868 and was listed on the National Register of Historical Places on September 17, 1980. citation |last=Claridge |first=John R. |publisher=Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission |date=December 27, 1979 |title=National Register of Historic Places -- Nomination Form |location=Harrisburg |url=http://www.arch.state.pa.us/pdfs/H050772_01B.pdf |accessdate=2008-06-17]

It is the oldest of the three remaining covered bridges in Erie County. The bridge structure's sufficiency rating on the Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory was only 14.6 percent and its condition was deemed "basically intolerable requiring high priority of corrective action".

Name

The most likely origin of the name was that it was taken from a now vanished community near where the bridge is located that was called "Gudgeonville. Although the source for the root,"gudgeon", is a mystery, it may have arose from the wagon part of the same name or from the small fish and minnows in the creek below the bridge that are called gudgeons. [cite book|last=Brown|first=George|title=American Fishes|origyear=1887|year=1903|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=eQ4LAAAAIAAJ&printsec=titlepage|publisher=L. C. Page & Company|location=Boston|format=PDF|chapter=Carp, Dice and Minnows|pages= [http://books.google.com/books?id=eQ4LAAAAIAAJ&printsec=titlepage#PPA411,M1 421] ]

One explanation is that a foundry was located in the valley whose speciality was making gudgeons. Another explanation was that there was a saw mill in the valley. A stranger asked the saw miller one day, "What is the name of this beautiful place?" The place had no name, but the miller was looking at the bearing of the water wheel when the traveler asked the question, and the miller answered him with "Gudgeonville."Fact|date=June 2008 A popular explanation for the origin of the name is that the donkey that supposedly died on the bridge was named "Gudgeon."

History

Construction

The Gudgeonville Bridge was constructed around 1868 and was rebuilt in the early 1870s after a fire. The bridge is located in Girard Township, Pennsylvania and crosses Elk Creek. The bridge was built and designed by William Sherman. The foundation of the bridge is believed to be remnants of the Erie Extension Canal.

Modern use and status

The bridge has been damaged from numerous small fires and has been the site of constant vandalism over the years. [cite news |last=McQuaid |first=Deborah |title=Graffiti mars historic covered bridge |url=http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021015&Category=FRONTPAGE&ArtNo=110150192 |date=October 15, 2002 |accessdate=2007-09-09 |work=Erie Times-News] cite news |last=Healy |first=Bob |work=Erie Times-News |title=Public opinion spilt on bridge |date=January 11, 2006 |url=http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20060111&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=601110398 |accessdate=2007-09-09] There are several proposals to dismantle the bridge and move it to a more secure location where it would not be vandalized. Another proposal is to build another bridge to bypass the original bridge, as it is too narrow to allow a variety of vehicles to cross it, including snowplows, fire trucks, and ambulances.Evans' 2001 "Pennsylvania's covered bridges: a complete guide" described the bridge to be "structurally sound," but its general appearance to be "most disappointing". The Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory found the sufficiency ratingRef label|A|a|none of the bridge structure to be only 14.6 percent. It found that the bridge's foundations were determined to "scour critical," meaning that the bridge's foundations were "determined to be unstable for the calculated scour conditions," and that the railing "does not meet currently acceptable standards". Its overall condition was deemed "basically intolerable requiring high priority of corrective action", with an estimated cost to improve the bridge of $107,000.

Superstition

Superstition surrounds the bridge as locals believe the bridge to be . The ghosts of children who have fallen off the cliff that flanks one side of the bridge are said to have been seen there.cite book |last=Wincik |first=Stephanie |title=Ghosts of Erie County |origyear=2002 |isbn=0-9725650-0-0 |chapter=Gudgeonville |pages=18-21] The unexplained sound of hooves on wood coming from the bridge can sometimes be heard, often accompanied by .cite video|people=David Belmondo (Host)|year=2002|title=Boo! Tour Eerie Erie|medium=Television production|publisher=WQLN Productions] One story is that a donkey was beaten to death on the bridge by its drunken owner because it refused to cross the bridge. Other stories involve a donkey that had a heart attack from being spooked by a calliope on a barge going beneath the bridge or that broke its leg one night on the bridge and had to be put down.Fact|date=June 2008

Bridge dimensions

The following table is a comparison of published measurements of length, width and load recorded in different sources using different methods, as well as the name or names cited. NBI measures bridge length between the "backwalls of abutments" or pavement grooves and the roadway width as "the most restrictive minimum distance between curbs or rails". The NRHP form was prepared by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), which surveyed county engineers, historical and covered bridge societies, and others for all the covered bridges in the commonwealth. The Evans visited every covered bridge in Pennsylvania in 2001 and measured each bridge's length (portal to portal) and width (at the portal) for their book. The data in Zacher's book was based on a 1991 survey of all covered bridges in Pennsylvania by the PHMC and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, aided by local government and private agencies. The article uses primarily the NBI and NRHP data, as they are national programs.* Listed mainspan length only

See also

* List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania

Notes

:a. Note_label|A|a|noneThe National Highway Administration established the sufficiency rating, which can vary from a low of 0 to a high of 100, as a way to prioritize federal funding for bridges. The rating is calculated based on "structural adequacy, whether the bridge is functionally obsolete, and level of service provided to the public". [cite web |url=http://www.transportation.org/?siteid=93&pageid=2496 |title=Bridge Inspection Definitions |publisher=American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials |date=August 29, 2007 |accessdate=2008-08-11] Federal funds are available for replacement of bridges with a rating of 50 or below, while those with a rating of 80 or below qualify for rehabilitation. [cite web |title=Bridge Sufficiency Ratings |format=PDF |url=http://www.transportation.org/sites/bridges/docs/Sufficiency%20Ratings%20Explained.pdf |publisher=Kansas Department of Transportation |accessdate=2008-08-11] In 2007, Pennsylvania had 22,291 bridges over convert|20|ft long, of which 42.9 percent were either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. [cite news |title=State by State: 'Deficient' or 'Obsolete' Bridges |date=2007-08-02 |publisher=Msnbc.com |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20093413/ |accessdate=2008-08-11]

References