Lower Humbert Covered Bridge

About

Lower Humbert Covered Bridge, also called Faidley Covered Bridge, crosses Laurel Hill Creek in Lower Turkeyfoot Township, Somerset County, off PA 281 a few miles from Confluence. It is a Burr arch truss 126 ft 6 in long and about 12.3 ft wide, built in 1891. It is the westernmost and southernmost covered bridge in the county. The bridge is maintained by Somerset County and is open to vehicles, with a 3-ton load limit.

History

The bridge was built in 1891 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 10, 1980. It was rebuilt in 1991, when the abutments were extensively reinforced. In January 2006 a homemade explosive caused minor damage to the deck. More recently the county planned a $309,360 repair to replace the wooden joists that support the roof and truss system, funded mostly by a Multimodal Transportation Fund grant of nearly $245,000 awarded in 2024. The work was scheduled for a summer closure of up to three months, with county crews repainting the red and white bridge.

Design

A Burr arch truss pairs a long timber arch on each side with a multiple kingpost truss, the two bolted together to share the load. Lower Humbert is painted red with white trim.

Visiting

The bridge is on a rural road off PA 281. There is room for several cars across from the bridge along Humbert Road. It is open to light vehicles under its 3-ton limit, and it may close during the planned joist repair.

Sources: Lower Humbert Covered Bridge (Wikipedia), Covered Bridges of Somerset County (Uncovering PA), Historic Somerset County covered bridge to close for repairs

Photo: Jwfmorris, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.