What follows is a list of some sites that visitors to this site may also want to visit. Click on the name of a site to visit that website. Note that these are all external links, and I am not responsible for any of the content on the sites that these links refer to.
There are many misunderstandings about historic bridge restoration in terms of feasibility. There tends to be the thought that restoration costs more than replacement, results in less bridge service life than replacement, and is in general a bad investment. Nothing could be further from the truth, particularly when a firm experienced in the unique construction of historic bridges is hired to restore a bridge. This is true for both the design engineer and metal fabricator/contractor. Below are some of the most outstanding historic bridge restoration firms in the country who have distinguished themselves by the superior quality and value of the work they do.
Bach Ornamental and Structural Steel - This fabricator is highly experienced and specializes in the restoration of historic metal bridges. They are noted particularly for not only the quality of the work, but the low cost at which they can complete the work.
VS Engineering - J. A. Barker, formerly running his own firm, now works with VS Engineering. James Barker, PE is a major reason why Indiana has so many beautifully restored historic metal truss bridges. VS Engineering thus offers his extensive experience in designing beautiful comprehensive restorations, while also being able to work with local bridge owners attempting to repair historic bridges with limited funds.
Sparks Engineering - This engineer is a nationally noted firm with a primary focus in the restoration of historic bridges and structures.
Historic Bridge Foundation - This group is dedicated to helping people preserve bridges. You can contact them to get advice and assistance on how to encourage preservation. They will help you sift through the bureaucracy, grants, and other stumbling blocks to saving a historic bridge. The group is based in Texas, but will assist people anywhere. The website also has information on historic Texas bridges.
VJM Metal Craftsman - This website is a clearinghouse of news, information, and articles, research, and workshops focused on the restoration and of historic metal truss bridges. VJM Metal Craftsman is run by Vern Mesler, a leading metal truss bridge restoration expert. A strong focus is placed on the restoration of metal truss bridges with attention paid to retaining original materials or exactly replicating worn parts of a truss bridge, as well as the use of riveting in restoration.
Bridgereports.com - This website lists raw National Bridge Inventory data in a more accessible format than the encoded files offered by the FHWA.
Bridgehunter.com - Bridgehunter.com is one of the largest bridge websites on the Internet, and relies heavily on bridge photo contributions from viewers like you. It is essentially the Wikipedia of bridges. Its covers all states, having grown from its original coverage state of Missouri.
Disappearing Bridges (Archived) - This website about historic truss bridges in Northwestern Pennsylvania and Northeastern Ohio played a major role in influencing the creation of HistoricBridges.org, as well as this website's heavy coverage of Pennsylvania. This website no longer exists, but the text and some photos have been archived in the Internet Archive.
Evolution of Pittsburgh Bridges - This map-focused website illustrates bridges in Pittsburgh.
Ohio Historic Bridge Association - Bridge preservationists, and also stewards of a former website called Old Ohio Bridges, which offered statewide coverage of Ohio.
Chicago Loop Bridges - Information, tours, and videos of Chicago's loop bridges.
John Weeks Bridge Coverage - This website has excellent narrative coverage of bridges in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and on major rivers like the Mississippi River.
John Marvig Railroad Bridges - This website has good narrative coverage of railroad bridges in the upper Midwest.
Bridgehunter's Chronicles - A blog containing historic bridge related articles and discussions.
Structurae - This website provides data on bridges, along with another structures, with a focus on Europe.
Pittsburgh Bridges - This site has technical and historic information on most of Pittsburgh's largest bridges. It also has information for bridges in Pittsburgh that have been demolished.
Oklahoma Bridges - Offers an extensive photo-documentation of numerous truss bridges in Oklahoma. An impressive Pennsylvania Truss is in Oklahoma, as well as numerous unique "K" truss bridges, where are otherwise rare elsewhere.
King Bridge Company Museum - An excellent site with photos and documentation related to the King Bridge Company.
Highest Bridges in the World - An extensive website with information and photos on the highest bridges in the world, both historic and modern.
Bridges of Cincinnati - A good place to go for info and photos of bridges in this city.
A Span For All Seasons - Has some excellent historic photos, as well as a large library of historic suspension bridges.
BridgePix - This is an excellent website that is fun to poke around in if you are looking for nice bridge photos and bridge postcards.
Historic Movable Bridge Drawings - Contains very nicely done hand-drawn pictures of movable historic bridges. Additional drawings and information are available here.
Geograph - Although not a bridge specific-website, this may be the most complete database of bridge photos in the United Kingdom. Locate bridge photos based on location.
Grace's Guide - Although not a bridge specific-website, this website has much information on bridge companies in the United Kingdom.
Transport Trust - Although not a bridge specific-website, this group promotes preservation of bridges and other structures in the United Kingdom.
Forgotten Relics - Although not a bridge specific-website, this website has information on bridges in the United Kingdom.
Michigan Highways - An extremely detailed informational history of Michigan's trunkline system. Learn about where different routes go, where they used to go, and how they were realigned and more.
Ontario Highways - Run by the same person as the above Michigan site, this provides detailed historical information about the King's Highway system in Ontario. Note: This website is not maintained and was never fully migrated from its old website. Visit an archive of the old website here.
History of Ontario's King's Highways - This site has lots of photos, especially of bridges, for Kings Highways on Ontario.
OntHighways.com (Archive) - A concise database of highways in Ontario.
AARoads - A lot of good information and photos of the Interstate expressway system.
State-Ends (Archive) - Photos of the end of state-owned highways, including Michigan highways.
The US Interstate Highway System and President Dwight Eisenhower - Jeanne Longhorne produced this article discussing the significance of the Interstate Highway System and also offers a series of links related to the system.
HABS HAER - Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) is a place that people interested in bridges often may end up if researching historic bridges.
MDOT's Historic Bridge Website - This website has been around since before HistoricBridges.org began, and was instrumental in starting the coverage of HistoricBridges.org. This site has not been updated since HistoricBridges.org began in 2003, and is more of a sentimental resource.
Iowa Historic Bridges - Bridges are listed in a database.
Canadian Register of Historic Places - Official website.
Ontario Heritage Properties Database - You can search this database and get a list of some of the historic bridges in Ontario. The type of page will not allow for a direct link to the bridge list, so here is how to get it. After clicking on the link, find the "Type of Recognition or Protection" drop-down menu. Towards the bottom of the drop-down is a choice labeled "Ontario Heritage Bridge List." Select that, and leave all other fields black and hit search.
Pennsylvania PennDOT Cultural Resources Page - Historic bridge info from PennDOT.
Pennsylvania Project Path - Section 106 Information for bridge projects in Pennsylvania.
Colorado Historic Bridges - Historic bridge photos from the state listed by county, as downloadable Adobe Acrobat PDF files.
Digital Bridges - This is a beautiful site filled with online versions of period books relating to historic bridges. Includes a catalog that would have been published by the the Wrought Iron Bridge Company to try to sell their bridges.
The Bridge Site - A ton of links are available at this site. When all the real truss bridges are gone, you may need to visit this site and download some bridge design software!
Bridges of Metropolitan Cleveland - An full online text of a book about Cleveland bridges.
Bridge Stock Photography at Foto Search
Historic Bridge Images and Graphics by Can Stock Photo
Historic Bridge Terminology - Taken from Waddell's famous 1916 Bridge Engineering
Railroads are an excellent source of historic bridges, and due to the durability of railroad bridges, probably will be for some time. Here are some tools to aid you in your railroad quests.
RailPictures.Net - The largest railroad picture gallery I know of on the Internet. Well organized search feature. You can narrow a search by state, and can select other options, such as showing only pictures with bridges in them. This is a fun gallery to explore.
Railroad Data - An excellent, well organized railroad link library website. Lots of good bridge links.
Railfan Picture Gallery - Enjoy poking through train galleries like this one, since you can often find some cool railroad bridges to check out.
Michigan Railroads - A good source for information and historic photos for railways in Michigan.
RailServe - This includes an extensive library of links to railroad-related websites. There are enough links on this website to keep you occupied for a very long time!
JJ's Railroad Links - A huge, yet organized list of links for railroad related websites all over the place.
