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A Leading Historic Bridge Resource
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To provide to the public historic bridge photos, documentation, consultation, and presentations in an attempt to share with others their beauty and history, while at the same time revealing the demolition risk that historic bridges face, while also providing consultation and restorative options for historic bridges.
HistoricBridges.org was founded in June of 2003 under the name Historic Bridges of Michigan and Elsewhere by Nathan Holth. It originally began as a website that provided photos and information for historic bridges in Michigan and nearby places, giving rise to its original name, HistoricBridges.org. From day one, Holth placed a priority on photo-documenting bridges as extensively as possible, including both overview photos and detail photos which show the structural design and condition of a bridge. Also from day one, there was been a commitment to the advocacy of historic bridges, through public awareness efforts and communication with elected officials. Holth later teamed up with Rick McOmber, another historic bridge enthusiast and photographer, to expand the geographic coverage of the website. Holth and McOmber combined the costs of travel to make longer out-of-state trips, and the site rapidly began to cover surrounding states. At the same time, Luke Gordon, a historic bridge enthusiast with a construction and engineering background, joined the team. Gordon brought the technical knowledge and hands-on experience needed to allow the website to move beyond documentation and also provide consultation and advising services for historic bridges. By 2009, amidst the growing coverage area and range of services offered, Historic Bridges of Michigan and Elsewhere was renamed to HistoricBridges.org. The name is simple, yet reflects not only a strong web presence, but a range of services that is not restricted to a geographic location.
Today, HistoricBridges.org is the one-stop-resource for all types of historic bridges except wooden covered bridges. Wooden covered bridges are not a part of HistoricBridges.org because providing information and services on this well-known bridge type would be redundant and a waste of HistoricBridges.org resources. HistoricBridges.org today remains a committed leader in providing information, photos, and consultation on metal and concrete historic bridges.
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Later when I was in high school, the collapse of the Ford Road Bridge in 2002 caused me to develop my current passion and commitment to historic bridges. The loss of this bridge inspired me to to learn about, find, and photograph more old bridges that were still standing. As I learned more about how diverse truss bridges and historic bridges in general were, as well as how at-risk they were, my interest grew. I finally decided to combine my skills in basic web design and basic graphics design with my interest in bridges to create a website. Since that time, I have gained a high level of experience in the field of historic bridges acquired from visiting, studying, researching, and working in the field of historic bridges. Today, I have developed a strong passion for historic bridges. Historic bridges are my vocation and life's calling, and I will vigorously fight for and defend them. -Nathan Holth, 2010
Nathan Holth holds a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education with a Political
Science Major and a History Minor. He has seven years experience studying and
working with historic bridges. Since 2008, he has volunteered and/or been hired
by a several experts in the historic bridge field. He has done website work,
photography, grant-seeking, and historic bridge
inspection/documentation for Vern Mesler of
VJM Metal
Craftsman, a well known expert in historic bridge restoration.
He has done historic bridge website work for Indiana bridge
historian James
Cooper. He has also been called upon by the
Historic Bridge Foundation
for a variety of tasks including historic bridge research and consultation, website work,
and graphics design. Holth has personally visited and photo-documented
over 1900 old and historic bridges. He has given a number of historic bridge
related presentations and speeches to groups of varying size, as well as
speaking at historic bridge
ribbon-cutting ceremonies. He has also worked with communities to save historic
bridges by providing services such as assistance getting a bridge
considered eligible or listed in the National Register of Historic
Places, researching and assessing the history and design of a
bridge, writing letters of support, and recommending experts for
additional assistance and support.
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HistoricBridges.org maintains a close working relationship with the below entities, although they are not actually affiliated with HistoricBridges.org in any way.
Most of the information appearing on HistoricBridges.org is derived from on-site visits to bridges combined with the expertise of the HistoricBridges.org team. In addition, the National Bridge Inventory, State Historic Bridge Inventories, National Register of Historic Places Nomination Forms, and Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) documentation are all common sources for historic bridge information presented on HistoricBridges.org.ebsites seen on ourWebsites seen on our Links page also have served as sources. In addition, the below people have provided information and assistance.
Daniel Alward
Lloyd Baldwin (Michigan Department of
Transportation Historian)
James Baughn (www.bridgehunter.com)
Tom Byle
(Kent County Road Commission Assistant Engineer)
Michael
Clark (St. Clair County Road Commission County Highway Engineer)
Jim Cooper
Nate Clark
Eric DeLony (Chief Emeritus, Historic American Engineering Record)
Frank J.
Hatfield (Ph.D., P.E.. Emeritus Professor)
Kitty Henderson (Historic Bridge
Foundation)
James and Susan Holth
Ron Jones (www.oldohiobridges.com)
Marc Scotti (New York State Department of Transportation)
James Stewart
Todd Wilson (www.bridgemapper.com)
Historic bridges are among the most threatened of historic structures in North America, and their frequent demolition is often also an example of how taxpayer dollars are being wasted to demolish and replace these historic structures at a higher cost.
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The following excepts from the National Trust for Historic Preservation about historic bridges in the state of Indiana reveal an attitude and event reflected across the United States. "From 1987 to 1999, poor planning and conflicting interests led to the loss of 62 percent of Indiana's metal bridges built between 1860 and 1930." "While communities appreciate the historic value of their bridges, planners often recommend demolition before seeking local input. The end result: historic bridges are being torn down even though rehabilitation is generally cheaper than new construction." "While appreciation for Indiana's covered bridges has increased, the destruction of other types of historic bridges has escalated at an alarming rate." "Most of the historic bridges are threatened by county governments' drive to replace them with modern structures at the recommendation of consulting engineers. Replacement of historic bridges with new ones typically costs taxpayers much more than restoration, and it destroys landmarks that are an integral part of local communities throughout the state." "Indiana needs a bridge preservation plan that takes a comprehensive look at these endangered resources throughout the state and sets clear priorities for preservation, with funding to allow for rehabilitation. Preservation advocates must be consulted as individual bridge projects are considered, to ensure that preservation and rehabilitation alternatives are fully explored." |
HistoricBridges.org uses a unique system to asses the historic significance of bridges on the website, called the Historic Significance Rating. This page also explains the range of bridges included on this website.
Click here to learn more about the Historic Significance Rating.
We
want you to stand up and speak up for historic bridges. Yes, you!
From the creation of this website in 2003, we have never placed advertisements
on this website, nor have we asked for donations from website visitors to cover
the costs and immense time/effort required to keep this website available for
you, nor we do not intend to do this in the future. Instead, we ask you to
consider supporting this website by contacting someone, such as your legislators
(local, state, and federal) and/or the Obama administration and expressing
support for historic bridges. Also consider a short note to
recovery.gov expressing
concern over the use of this funding to destroy historic bridges, and request
that they support and protect historic bridges.
A simple email telling them that you like historic bridges and want to see them
preserved instead of demolished is all that is needed. Alternatively, you can
get technical in your emails/letters if you wish and if you do,
Turning the Tide may be of help.
It is not hard to send an email. Support this website by supporting historic
bridges.
Email government officials in support of historic bridges today!
Legal Information / Privacy PolicyLegal Status of HistoricBridges.org HistoricBridges.org (referred to in this document as HistoricBridges.org hereafter) is a volunteer project, and is not currently a 501(c) organization of any kind. HistoricBridges.org is not funded by any business or governmental interests. Privacy Policy No personally identifiable information is automatically collected from you by this website. Visitors may supply personal information to HistoricBridges.org by contacting HistoricBridges.org by email or the website's Contact page. Such personally identifiable information is never automatically collected, and is available to HistoricBridges.org only if visitors physically type such information into an email or form. Any personally identifiable information collected in this manner will only be used to respond to questions or fulfill requests. No information will be shared with advertisers, spammers etc. As many websites on the Internet do, anonymous information may be collected when you visit this website. Such information includes, but may not be limited to the following. One way HistoricBridges.org collects such information is an HTTP_USER_AGENT. This is a string of text that your internet browser contains and sends to websites you visit, and usually lists the name of the browser and operating system you are using. A common example: HTTP_USER_AGENT: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1) Gecko/20061010 Firefox/2.0. Another type of anonymous information collected is referrer information. This identifies what website you used to get to the HistoricBridges.org website, such as Google or Yahoo, and such a listing may also contain what search terms you used that returned the HistoricBridges.org website as a result. Such information collected is only used to ensure that the HistoricBridges.org website content is best designed for the type of browser most visitors are using, and also to ensure that the HistoricBridges.org website is easy for visitors to find in search engines. None of this information is personally identifiable. Your use of this website indicates your acceptance to this privacy policy. Protections for website interface graphics and use of logo. All HistoricBridges.org website interface graphics, including but not limited to buttons, horizontal bars, and logos are the property of HistoricBridges.org and may not be reused without express written permission. However the main logo, available below, may be used in two ways. The HistoricBridges.org logo may be used on any website or presentation to credit HistoricBridges.org for content used, or to provide a link to the HistoricBridges.org website. The logo, available by clicking on the logo thumbnail below, may be resized for use, but may not be altered in any other way. The logo may not be used for any other purpose than those listed above, unless express written permission is given by HistoricBridges.org.
HistoricBridges.org content in regards to Wikipedia and similar websites.
HistoricBridges.org reserves all rights to all of its content. Absolutely no content on the HistoricBridges.org website, including photos, may ever appear on Wikipedia, any website based off of Wikipedia.com, including but not limited to www.answers.com, or any unregulated visitor-compiled website for any reason without the express written permission of HistoricBridges.org. An exception is that a hyperlink to any HTM or PHP page on HistoricBridges.org is permitted in the External Links or Works Cited section of a Wikipedia article. Directly linking to images is never allowed for any reason on any website. Textual content on HistoricBridges.org may be quoted or paraphrased, but this must be done in strict accordance with an acceptable citation method that allows viewers to quickly trace that content to the HistoricBridges.org website. Use of content in presentations. Special privileges are granted to those who wish to use information and photos contained on HistoricBridges.org in presentations promoting the preservation or increasing public knowledge of historic bridges, whether a specific bridge or historic bridges in general. Please contact HistoricBridges.org when doing so, as we like to track when our content is used to gauge whether visitors find it of use. HistoricBridges.org is also happy to work with you to ensure that you can freely use content from HistoricBridges.org to create seamless presentation, while also making sure that HistoricBridges.org receives some form of credit. Exceptions to the below requirements may be granted if your presentation has a specific need, but such exceptions are only allowed with express permission. All photos on the website that are not explicitly credited are the property of Nathan Holth, Rick McOmber, or Luke Gordon. These photos may be used in such presentations without question. With these photos, simply including a reference to the HistoricBridges.org website during the presentation, perhaps including the logo at the end of the presentation is sufficient credit, and may be of benefit to your viewers who may find the HistoricBridges.org content of interest. However, with photos explicitly credited to someone else, the express written permission of HistoricBridges.org or the owner of said photo(s) is needed before they can be used, as there may be specific restrictions with such photos. Use of content in all other works not mentioned. HistoricBridges.org textual content may may be quoted or paraphrased when a standard citation method is properly used that allows readers to identify HistoricBridges.org as the source. Use of photos required the express permission. |
I was born with a passion for historic bridges, because I took notice of old bridges
even when I was only a few years old. The old
I have always had an interest in architecture, design, industrial related
subjects and transportation so naturally historic metal bridges fall into that
category. My earliest memories of these steel structures go back to my travels
through Chicago as the Massive lift bridges in the area really intrigued
me. Over time I researched bridges on my own on the internet/books etc
eventually finding some rare and unique truss bridges in my own state of
Michigan. Along with an interest in photography, I became curious of the design,
bridge manufactures, people behind and location of these unique structures.
Overall this is what drives me to learn more and visit more of these historic
and valued spans. 
Luke Gordon provides the engineering support for the Historicbridges.org team.
Gordon is a resident project representative for a Michigan engineering firm
specializing in MDOT Bridge and Highway services. Gordon’s resume includes being a
project manager for John Carlo Incorporated and Six-S Construction. He has also
been an inspector for the Michigan Department of Transportation. Gordon’s
knowledge on structural rehabilitation methods, bridge inspection, and
construction engineering aids the Historicbridges.org team in the technical
knowledge sector.