Historic Bridges

The Federal Highway Administration assists in the preservation of historic bridges and encourages States to incorporate the concepts of context sensitive design in the rehabilitation and reuse of historic bridges

This section of the Toolkit provides information on the following topics:

Technical Assistance
State Bridge Programs
Program Comment for Post-1945 Concrete and Steel Bridges
Post-1945 Highway Bridge Engineering
Additional Bridge Resources

Technical Assistance

FHWA assists in the preservation of historic bridges and encourages States to incorporate the concepts of context sensitive design in the rehabilitation and reuse of historic bridges.

Programs for historic bridge preservation include:

National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Program – This program provided funding to assist the States in their efforts to preserve, rehabilitate, or restore the Nation's historic covered bridges. Grants are no longer available since the program was discontinued under MAP-21. However, guidance produced during the life of the program is still available and includes the following:
Transportation Alternatives Program – The Transportation Alternatives Program provides funding for programs and projects defined as transportation alternatives, including on- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities, community improvement activities, preservation of historic transportation facilities, and environmental mitigation.

State Bridge Programs

Many State DOTs have developed historic bridge programs. These programs aim to preserve the historic and cultural value of long-standing bridges where possible and expedite the consideration of historic bridges in project development and environmental review. For example, Indiana's Historic Bridge Program helps planners prioritize a list of bridges for preservation, while providing bridge owners incentives for this preservation.

photograph of Wilson's Bridge — Wilson Bridge near Delphi, Indiana was named after an adjoining property owner who petitioned for its construction in 1897. The bridge retains its original truss members and decoratively latticed guardrails. It was rehabilitated, re-painted, and re-opened in 2008.

Highways Through History Website Launch. The West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) recently launched their Highways Through History website. Deployment of the Highways Through History website satisfies outstanding FHWA and WVDOT mitigation commitments on numerous bridge, culvert, and tunnel rehabilitation and replacement projects. The website showcases historic bridges, culverts, and tunnels throughout the state.
Crossing the Bayou: Louisiana’s Historic Bridges. Louisiana DOTD’s richly illustrated publication highlights bridge building in Louisiana and provides a guide to the state’s 150 historic bridges that represent significant engineering designs, important trends, and historical events. The publication is searchable by name, parish, or type; profiles each historic bridge with a photo, description, history and importance; and identifies the state’s priority preservation bridges.

To uncover more information about States’ historic bridge programs, visit the following links.

Additional Bridge Resources

AASHTO Center for Environmental Excellence – This website includes information, resources, and best practices for a variety of historic preservation and cultural resource areas, including historic bridges) includes guidance, reports, best practices.
A Context for Common Historic Bridge Types – NCHRP25-25, Task 15, October 2005.
Best Practices for the Rehabilitation and Moving of Historic Metal Truss Bridges – This resource was produced by the Virginia Transportation Research Council.
California Department of Transportation Digital Collections – This resource includes California’s historic bridges and tunnels.
FHWA Flexibility in Highway Design
Henszey’s Arch (1869) A Bridge to Success – This case study describes the relocation and restoration of an 1869 wrought iron bowstring truss bridge in Pennsylvania.
Historic Bridges: A Heritage at Risk – A report on a workshop on the Preservation and Management of Historic Bridges held in Washington, DC, in December, 2003.
Historic Bridges: Management, Regulations, and Rehabilitation Training
Historic Bridge Foundation Bulletin
NCHRP Document 278, Practitioners Guide on Context-Sensitive Design Options for Workhorse Bridges in Rural Historic Districts (2020) – This web-only document is a practitioner-ready resource that provides context-sensitive design examples appropriate for workhorse bridges in rural historic districts.
Rails to Trails Conservancy – Bridges
Synthesis of Highway Practice 275: Historic Highway Bridge Preservation Practices