Watts Mill Bridge

The Watts Mill Bridge is a pin-connected Pratt pony truss bridge located over the Little Beaver Creek in Cannelton, Pennsylvania, United States.

Watts Mill Bridge
Watts Mill Bridge in September 2008
Coordinates	40°47′26″N 80°29′38″W
Carries	Watts Mill Road
Crosses	Little Beaver Creek
Locale	Beaver, Pennsylvania, United States
Other name(s)	Bridge in South Beaver Township
Maintained by	PennDOT
NBI Number	044009006000000
Characteristics
Total length	109 ft (33 m)[1]
Width	12.5 ft (3.8 m)[1]
Load limit	14.5 t (16.0 short tons)
History
Constructed by	West Penn Bridge Company
Built	1878
Bridge in South Beaver Township
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	less than one acre
Architect	West Penn Bridge Co.
MPS	Highway Bridges Owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation TR
NRHP reference No.	88000868[2]
Added to NRHP	June 22, 1988
Location

The bridge was constructed in 1878 by the West Penn Bridge Company, based in nearby Beaver Falls PA. The bridge is located in a valley approximately a quarter mile north of the North Country Trail. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. When the bridge was given this designation by the NRHP, it was simply known as the Bridge in South Beaver Township. It is the only bridge in Beaver County on the National Register for itself,[2] although the Bridgewater-Rochester Bridge over the Beaver River is part of the Bridgewater Historic District in Bridgewater to the south.[3]

In 2004, the bridge, which was becoming rusty and falling into disrepair and considered for demolition by PennDOT, was placed on the Top Ten Best Historic Preservation Opportunities in the Pittsburgh Area by the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh. No major renovations have been done to the bridge.