Leon H. Martin's 18-foot-long replica of Hunsecker's Mill Covered Bridge will soon be heading to what he hopes is "its final resting place."

The massive model will be transported Saturday morning from Martin's home in Leola to the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society's library in East Lampeter Township, where it will be put on public display.

"I want to set it up someplace where people who wanted to see it could," Martin said on why he decided to donate the piece. "I thought it would be a project I could sell. I had hundreds and scads of people who wanted it, but no one wanted to pay for it."

The model, which Martin completed last summer after two years of work, will be placed against a wall and stretch over the library's computers.

"When you're using a patron computer, you'll be sitting under the bridge," LMHS librarian and archivist Steve Ness said. "We initially thought about putting it in the bookstore, but it's too big."

With its stone abutments, the bridge is more than 20 feet long and weighs at least 500 pounds, Martin said. The abutments, made from real stone and concrete, weigh in at 200 pounds apiece.

Ness has gathered a group of eight men to help transport the bridge. They hope to deliver it to the library around 10 a.m. Saturday.

"We're hoping it can remain there," Ness said. "I'm guessing we're not going to want to move this around any more than possible."

The project began in 2006, after Martin finished building a stagecoach model.

"After I finished the stagecoach, my wife asked me, 'What are you going to do now?'" Martin said. "I told her, 'I don't know.' I didn't have time to think. That night I got awoken at 2 o'clock, and the bridge came into my mind."

Unable to go back to sleep, Martin said, he made a commitment, saying "Lord, if that's what I'm supposed to do, then I'll do it." He fell asleep soon after, only to wake up the next morning and begin his measurements.

At 180 feet long, Hunsecker's Mill bridge is Lancaster County's longest single-span covered bridge. Originally built in 1848, it stretches across the Conestoga River in Paradise.

In 1972, Hurricane Agnes destroyed the bridge, but it reopened in 1974 after the state Department of Transportation rebuilt it for $321,000.

"It took PennDOT two years to rebuild it," Martin said. "I find it unique, because it took me two years, too."

Built to a 1-inch-to-1-foot scale, Martin mimicked every detail on the real bridge, from the arches and tresses to the signs at each end.

"I took a tablet and a pencil each day I went," Martin said. "Step by step, I measured the pieces. As I tackled one thing and needed another, I'd go back and measure."

By the time he finished, Martin estimates he had made the 15-minute trek to the Hunsecker's bridge 25 times.

Martin said he varied his work days, spending anywhere from three to eight hours in his garage each day.

"When I'd get tired, I'd just stop," he said. "There were times where I would have thrown up my hands and figured it was time to quit."

For the former mason, the stone abutments were the hardest and most time-consuming aspect of the project. Once he finished those, Martin recreated the forerunners and four support arches.

To make the bridge even more realistic, Martin used special wood for the siding and $570 worth of English Cedar shingles.

Ness believes the public will be impressed by "the amount of detail and work that went into it.

"It looks good in pictures, but it's more impressive to see in person," he said.

From Martin's knowledge, he is the only person who has taken on a covered-bridge re-creation of this size.

He is currently working on a birdhouse, but said he is thinking about starting another big project.

"Steve (Ness) asked if I would consider making a small replica of the Hans Herr House," Martin said. "I like things that have to do with old history."

E-mail: stephweaver@lnpnews.com