Wanich Covered Bridge

About

Wanich Covered Bridge No. 69 crosses Little Fishing Creek on the line between Hemlock and Mount Pleasant townships in Columbia County, off Route 42 north of Fernville and a short distance north of Bloomsburg. It is a Burr arch truss bridge 98.75 ft long. Coveredbridges.net, which photographed it in September 2021, reports that the county owns and maintains it, that it is in good condition, and that it is open to all traffic.

History

George Russell Jr. built the bridge for $500. Wikipedia dates it to 1844, the year coveredbridges.net also gives in its builder note, though the coveredbridges.net headline gives 1884. The bridge is named for John Wanich, a nearby farmer. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 29, 1979.

Design

The Burr arch truss pairs a long timber arch with a multiple kingpost truss. Coveredbridges.net lists a largest span of 79.1 ft, a 13.5 ft wide deck and 8.2 ft of vertical clearance above the deck. Its specification of 82 ft total length conflicts with the 98.75 ft figure in its own description and in Wikipedia.

Visiting

The bridge is off Route 42 north of Fernville and carries vehicle traffic.

Sources: Wanich Covered Bridge No. 69 (Wikipedia), List of covered bridges in Columbia County (Wikipedia), Wanich Covered Bridge (coveredbridges.net)

Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.