Niemeyer Road Covered Bridge in Waterford Township, Erie County Reopened to Traffic

​The historic red covered bridge that carries Niemeyer Road over LeBoeuf Creek in Waterford Township, Erie County has reopened to traffic.

The bridge is located on Niemeyer Road between the intersection with East Street and the intersection with Union Road. It is adjacent to the Smith Tract of the French Creek Valley Conservancy.

The bridge is owned and maintained by Waterford Township.

The 85-foot single-lane covered bridge was built in 1875 by brothers Charles and James Phelps with a Town lattice wooden truss design. The trusses are comprised of crisscrossed diagonals, leading to the name lattice truss.

It is one of only 19 such bridges left in Pennsylvania, and likely the only one in the northwest region. Pennsylvania is home to more than 200 covered bridges, most of which are in the southeast portion of the state.

The bridge, which is also known as Brotherton's Bridge and the Old Kissing Bridge, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

It was closed to traffic in May 2011, due to safety concerns.

In summer 2023, the contract to repair the bridge was awarded to Chivers Construction Company of Fairview. The contract cost is $3,473,690, which is being funded with a combination of state and federal money. The project is funded in part by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

Construction started in fall 2023 with dismantling the top portion of the wooden bridge for refurbishment offsite. Pieces were evaluated for reuse and repaired or replaced when necessary.

In 2024, work included the construction of new concrete walls, bridge beams and wooden decking to support the historic structure. The lattice wall and overhead trusses were reassembled using wooden dowel pins to match the original design. The wooden roof was covered with a second metal roof to increase the longevity of the refurbished structure.

The project also included paving the roadway and pull-off location areas on each side of the bridge, as well as updates to the guiderail and pavement markings.

The bridge officially reopened on November 7, 2024.

Additional information on the Niemeyer Road Bridge Project, including a slide show of pictures from throughout the project, will available online at the PennDOT District 1 website, www.penndot.pa.gov/District1.

Motorists can check conditions on major roadways by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.

511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional X alerts accessible on the 511PA website.

Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Crawford, Erie, Forest, Mercer, Venango, and Warren counties at www.penndot.pa.gov/District1.

Information about infrastructure in District 1, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.pa.gov/D1Results. Find PennDOT's planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov.

Find PennDOT news for the northwest region on X or Facebook.

Editor's Note: A video of the bridge is available on PennDOT's northwest region Facebook group.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Jill Harry, [email protected] or 814-678-5035