Wehr's Covered Bridge

About

Wehr's Covered Bridge crosses Jordan Creek at the western end of Covered Bridge Park in South Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, east of Orefield. It is a Burr truss built in 1841 and stands just downstream of a small dam that forms a man-made waterfall. It is open to vehicles and is owned by Lehigh County.

History

The sources reviewed do not name the builder. In 1862 Ephraim Sieger built a stone gristmill on the north bank, and the bridge was first called Sieger's. After several owners the mill passed to William Wehr, and the bridge took his name. The mill was torn down in 1951, and locals still call the area Wehr's Dam. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 1, 1980. In July 2014 it closed for several days for inspection after a grossly overweight truck crossed it. No significant damage was found, and the county lowered the posted weight limit from 20,000 to 8,000 pounds.

Design

The Burr truss pairs timber arches with a multiple kingpost truss. Wehr's has horizontal siding and a gable roof, and Wikipedia and coveredbridges.net describe it as three spans. Sources disagree on the length: Discover Lehigh Valley gives 128 ft, Wikipedia 117 ft, and coveredbridges.net 133 ft overall with a 113 ft main span.

Visiting

The bridge is reached by River Road, about 0.8 miles from Lapp Road, at the western end of Covered Bridge Park. Vehicles can cross within the posted weight limit. Manasses Guth Covered Bridge is at the park's eastern end.

Sources: Wehr Covered Bridge (Wikipedia), Wehr Covered Bridge (coveredbridges.net), Covered Bridges of Lehigh Valley (Discover Lehigh Valley)