Rapps - 1866
The 1866 Rapps Covered Bridge, also known as Rapps Dam Bridge, is one of fifteen surviving historic wooden covered bridges in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Rapps Bridge is located on Rapps Dam Road in East Pikeland Township.
Rapps Bridge is a 105-foot-long, Burr truss bridge, constructed in 1866 by Benjamin F. Hartman. It has fieldstone abutments, horizontal siding, and boxed cornices with returns at its portals. It is one of three covered bridges that cross French Creek, the others being Hall's Bridge and Kennedy Bridge. This bridge was named for George A Rapp and his sons who operated a sawmill and gristmill just south of the bridge.
The Rapps Bridge was renovated in 1978 and again in 2011 for approximately 1.5 million dollars. On April 29, 2014, the bridge was heavily damaged when a tractor-trailer crossed it. It re-opened in October 2015.
The bridge remains in good condition and open to vehicle traffic, and is owned and maintained by the state.
Length of largest span: 100.1 ft.
Total length: 102 ft.
Deck width: 14.1 ft.
Of the 1,500 covered bridges that once stood in the state of Pennsylvania, as of 2019, approximately 200 remain.
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on June 18, 1973.
Located at: N40 08.294 W75 33.173 - WGCB #38-15-14
Photographed in September of 2016.