It’s over Smith creek, a tributary into the Shenandoah River, in Rockingham County and was built in 1896 on private property.  It carries traffic, but is not open to the public.

            The Biedler Farm Covered Bridge is on private property and is posted against trespassers.  This made it very difficult to document any facts until a lady from Reston, Virginia discovered by accident that her great grandfather was the brother of Daniel Ulrich Biedler who owned the farm where he built his home, Springdale and the covered bridge.  His grandson lived in Vienna, Virginia just four miles from Karen Alexander’s home in Reston.  When the grandson died, his wife called Karen and offered her the farm ledgers that date from 1869-1950.  What a bonanza!

            Today we have a record of land transfers, not only for Springdale but for the covered bridge.  It included Daniel Ulrich Biedler’s family genealogy and names of many of the men who worked on Springdale and the bridge.  She even had pictures of the Biedler family.
           
            The covered bridge is 92’- 6” long, 15’-10 ½” wide and has a single span burr arch-truss tightly fitted around the Kingpost truss verticals and diagonals and bolted which makes it a highly effective truss system.  The 72’-2” truss is braced against the abutment breast wall at each end and is sheltered to protect it from the elements on the inside with 10’-2” portal sheds and on the outside with defective siding.

            The road and bridge serves as access for a few property owners; therefore, the bridge carries a minimum number of vehicles and other farm traffic.  There is no posted capacity.

            Although the bridge is not recorded with the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission or the National Register of Historic Places, the owners are acutely aware of its historic significance.