{"nrhp_refnum":"80004294","name":"Little Gap Covered Bridge","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"S of Little Gap on T 376, Towamensing Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Little Gap","county":"Carbon County","state":"PA","lat":40.83130408300008,"lon":-75.52241141699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-12-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A wooden covered truss bridge over Aquashicola Creek on T376 south of Little Gap in Lower Towamensing Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It is 73 feet long and 15 feet wide, and the form dates it to about 1860.","why_significant":"The nomination describes the bridge as an interesting example of early bridge architecture that combines the Burr arch truss with elements of the Howe truss. It is also said to be the first to use metal tie rods in bridge construction, which allowed green timbers to be used and tension to be maintained by tightening bolts. The form presents it as representing the transition from wooden to metal bridges.","narrative":"Near Little Gap in Lower Towamensing Township, a wooden covered bridge crosses Aquashicola Creek on a township road south of the village. The bridge measures about 73 feet in length and 15 feet in width and dates from around 1860. Its structure combines the arch-supported Burr truss with features of the Howe truss. It is distinguished by the use of iron tie rods, a relatively early application of metal in bridge building. The rods allowed builders to use green, freshly cut timbers, with the tension kept in place by tightening the bolts over time. For that reason the bridge is regarded as marking the shift from timber to metal bridge construction. It is one of a group of covered bridges in Carbon, Lehigh, Luzerne and Northampton counties that were studied as examples of nineteenth-century wooden bridge technology. The bridge is owned by Carbon County.","period_of_significance":"c.1860","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.047491-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/80004294.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004294/6058e1a961-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004294/6058e1a961-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LITTLE_GAP_COVERED_BRIDGE.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ MD</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LITTLE_GAP_COVERED_BRIDGE.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992498","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Gap_Covered_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6650129"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/carbon-county/little-gap-covered-bridge-80004294/"}