The Banks Covered Bridge is a wooden

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

in Wilmington Township, Lawrence County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It spans the

Neshannock Creek Neshannock Creek is a long tributary to Shenango River that forms at the confluence of Cool Spring and Otter Creek in Mercer County and then flows south to Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. This creek is known for its fly fishing at Volant, Penns ...

southeast of

New Wilmington New Wilmington is a borough in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, first platted in 1824 and established as a borough on April 9, 1863. The population was 2,097 at the 2020 census. It is home to Westminster College and serves the Old O ...

. Constructed in 1889, the bridge is a

Burr arch truss The Burr Arch Truss—or, simply, Burr Truss or Burr Arch—is a combination of an arch and a ''multiple kingpost'' truss design. It was invented in 1804 by Theodore Burr, patented on April 3, 1817, and used in bridges, usually covered bridge ...

built on stone foundations and supported by steel girders; it is long. Unlike many Pennsylvania counties, Lawrence County never possessed many covered bridges; perhaps only five such bridges were ever built in the county. Today, only the Banks Covered Bridge and the

McConnell's Mill Covered Bridge The McConnell's Mill Covered Bridge is an historic, wooden covered bridge that is located in Slippery Rock Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, Slippery Rock Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States ...

near Rose Point remain.Zacher, Susan M. '. National Park Service, 1979-12-11. Accessed 2010-02-10. While the

Howe truss A Howe truss is a truss bridge consisting of chords, verticals, and diagonals whose vertical members are in tension and whose diagonal members are in compression. The Howe truss was invented by William Howe in 1840, and was widely used as a bridg ...

used by the McConnell's Mill bridge is very rare, the Burr arch truss used by the Banks bridge is employed by many Pennsylvania bridges. Its interior walls are similar to those featured on many covered bridges in

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

. In 1980, the bridge was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in recognition of its historical significance, along with the McConnell's Mill bridge. File:Banks Covered Bridge - Pennsylvania (4826579892).jpg File:Banks Covered Bridge, eastern side.jpg File:Banks Covered Bridge, northeastern angle.jpg

References

: Stephen Greene, 1959, 73-79. {{NRHP bridges Bridges completed in 1889 Covered bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Covered bridges in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania Wooden bridges in Pennsylvania Bridges in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania Transportation buildings and structures in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania 1889 establishments in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Girder bridges in the United States Burr Truss bridges in the United States

References

Further reading