About
Sawhill Covered Bridge carries Pole Cat Hollow Road over Buffalo Creek in Blaine Township, just off PA 221 northwest of Taylorstown. Washington County owns and maintains it, and it is open to vehicular traffic. Its World Guide number is 38-63-34. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1979.
History
The bridge was built in 1915 by an unknown builder. It is the second of only two covered bridges built in Washington County during World War I, a choice made partly because of wartime steel shortages. The remnants of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 left the bridge leaning and impassable; Dale Travis's 2006 photo record lists it as closed to all traffic. It was then rebuilt from its foundation up and reopened.
Design
Sawhill is a queenpost truss resting on concrete abutments. Coveredbridges.net gives a total length of 56.1 feet with a largest span of 48.9 feet, a deck width of 10.8 feet and a vertical clearance of 9.3 feet; Dale Travis lists it at 57 feet. At the Route 221 end, curved wing walls are built of stone and mortar.
Visiting
Dale Travis gives these directions: travel 3.1 miles northwest on PA 221 from its junction with Main Street in Taylorstown, then turn west onto Pole Cat Hollow Road. The bridge is 150 feet down the road.
Sources: Sawhill Covered Bridge, coveredbridges.net, Sawhill, Dale J. Travis Covered Bridge Photos
Photo: Brian M. Powell, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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