About
Mercer's Mill Covered Bridge crosses the East Branch Octoraro Creek on the border between Lancaster and Chester counties, about half a mile south of Christiana in Sadsbury Township, Lancaster County. It carries Bailey Crossroads Road, off Creek Road south of Route 372. The single-span Burr arch bridge was built in 1880. Lancaster County lists the span as 87 feet, McCain gives 86 feet, and the Wikipedia infobox gives 80 feet.
History
B. J. Carter built the bridge in 1880. It is also called Mercer's Ford Covered Bridge, and its official name is East Octoraro #2 Bridge. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 11, 1980. Lancaster County owns and maintains it.
Design
The bridge uses double Burr arch trusses: long timber arches paired with a multiple kingpost truss on each side, with steel hanger rods added later. It has an oak plank deck and a clear deck width of 15 feet 4 inches, with 11 feet 6 inches of overhead clearance. Coveredbridges.net describes it as painted red inside and out, with white approaches.
Visiting
The bridge is on Bailey Crossroads Road just south of Christiana, reached from Creek Road and Route 372.
Sources: Mercer's Mill Covered Bridge (Wikipedia), Mercer's Mill (coveredbridges.net)
Photo: CanonJim, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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