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The HistoricBridges.org Team: Nathan Holth - Author, Webmaster, and Photographer. Rick McOmber - Photographer and Content Advisor. Luke Gordon - Engineering / Construction Consultant and Photographer. |
Formerly Historic Bridges of Michigan and Elsewhere, HistoricBridges.org offers
professional photo-documentation, information, and advocacy for
all types of historic bridges except covered bridges. North
American coverage radiates outward from Michigan, with
Pennsylvania, Chicago, and Ontario being coverage highlights as
well. HistoricBridges.org places an unparalleled priority on
professional photo-documentation of each bridge presented. In addition, HistoricBridges.org strongly advocates for the reform of surface
transportation policy and fights to increase awareness of the
feasibility of historic bridge preservation.
Click Here For The Latest Website Update (1-20-12). |
HistoricBridges.org Features
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Featuring historic bridge photo-documentation and information, the Bridge Browser is the main feature on this website. The map shown here is an interactive clickable map that allows you to access the bridges on this website. Places listed in blue text have bridges available. BridgeSeek, an advanced search tool, is also available. Also, a standalone version of the Bridge Browser is available. |
Bridge Spotlight:Approximate Time Remaining Until All United States Historic Metal Truss Bridges Not Preserved Are Demolished:Port Huron Pere Marquette Railroad Bridge
Located in Port Huron, Michigan, this 1931 through truss bascule bridge is one of only three bascule bridges in Michigan using a design patented in 1921 by Hugo Abt for the American Bridge Company. Including this bridge, only six examples of this type are known to remain nationwide today, making the design exceedingly rare. Additionally, the Port Huron bridge appears to have the longest span of this type. The Abt bascule bridge has two unusual features: its counterweight that moves opposite to the direction of the span as it is lowered or raised and the motor that drives the bridge while riding up and down on an inclined track. It is historically and technologically significant as a rare example of an unusual patented bridge design. Locally, the bridge is a recognizable landmark and a remnant of a railroad line that once ran north and south from the bridge. Nobody appears to have sought to list the bridge in the National Register of Historic Places, but, it appears to be eligible for listing for its engineering significance. Today abandoned in its original position, the bridge is owned by the Port Huron Yacht Club who recently purchased the land and the bridge. The Yacht Club is seeking to demolish this historic bridge. The Yacht Club has not outlined plans for using the land around the bridge, nor indicated if the bridge is in the way of anything. They have claimed the bridge is a liability. Concerns with liability could be addressed with an improved fence and “No Trespassing” signs. Demolishing the bridge is shortsighted and deprives Port Huron of an important historic landmark. Click here to visit the page for the Port Huron Pere Marquette Railroad Bridge |
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Informative presentations designed to introduce viewers to the world of historic bridges. Utilizing photos and diagrams, the various terminology, construction, and configuration of historic bridges is discussed. A presentation on inspecting historic bridges is also available. This page also features some formal, yet easy-to-read, essays that further explore the historic bridge world. |
Historic Bridges Encyclopedia
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This feature contains articles relating
to historic bridges, as well as information about entire categories
of historic bridges. This section also includes some non-bridge
related photos. Some of the major features include: - An all-in-one collection of some of the best bridge photos available in wallpaper size. - A look at historic metal water towers, which share a lot of design characteristics with truss bridges. - A collection of interesting photos of the natural world. - An in-depth look at curved chord through girder bridges. |
Historic Bridge Park: A Visitor's Guide
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A comprehensive visitor's guide to this unique park located in Calhoun County, Michigan whose focus is the restored metal truss bridges within the park. Contains maps, photos, and links to bridge browser pages for the historic bridges within the park. |
Turning the Tide
A Campaign For Change: A Future For Historic Bridges
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Your help is needed! Help an important piece of historic bridge legislation revised and passed in 2007 to increase historic bridge preservation: A guide to write letters to U.S. government officials and legislators. These proposed changes did not pass in 2006 because the government felt that not enough citizens had spoken up in favor of historic bridges. Help change that! |
Historic Bridge Newsroom: Twitter
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Presented through the convenient format of Twitter, the Historic Bridge Newsroom is a simple collection of links to current news articles about historic bridges, as well as word-of-mouth news snippets. Coverage includes any historic bridges in the United States and Canada, which may or may not be in the Bridge Browser. This is a human-edited list of links; therefore coverage may be biased to the areas that those team members who maintain it are familiar with. |
Links to Related Websites
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Features a collection of external links to other bridge websites on the Internet. Many other bridge enthusiast websites feature bridges from areas not covered by this website, and links to those websites can be found here. |
News and Updates
Register Now: 2012 Iron & Steel Preservation ConferenceConference Dates: March 5-6, 2012Lansing Community College, Lansing, MichiganCall 517-483-9853 to register or Register Online $175.00 for first day only, $300.00 for both days For more information, visit the Official Conference Webpage or contact Vern Mesler 517-614-9868 Presentations on first day, March 5Emcee: Dr. Frank Hatfield Professor Emeritus Michigan State University Civil and Environmental Engineering
Metal Restoration Processes with Hands-on Experiences on second day, March 6Featured Demonstration: Riveted Phoenix Column ReplicationOther Demonstrations
Looking For A Pedestrian or Light Vehicular Bridge?Whether you are a park, trail organization, college, city, or private landowner, you want your property to be something unique and special. Why settle for a boring, dull pre-fabricated pedestrian bridge when you can get a beautiful historic bridge to do the same thing? The following states maintain a list of bridges which you can acquire, relocate and restore. These bridges normally can be acquired free of charge, so use the money you were going to put toward buying a pre-fab bridge and instead use it to restore the bridge. Not sure how to restore a bridge? HistoricBridges.org can help guide you to people and firms that can help. Note: these bridges will be demolished if nobody acquires them.Pennsylvania Michigan Indiana Ohio North Carolina Nationwide Listings On BridgeHunter.com Support Historic Bridges With A Donation To These Foundations:We do not seek donations for the operation of HistoricBridges.org, nor do we feature advertisements in our content. However if you are interested in helping the cause of historic bridges by financial means, we strongly suggest a tax-deductible donation to these Foundations: Iron and Steel Historic Preservation Program Fund Part of the Lansing Community College Foundation and managed by Vern Mesler, this fund provides for the development and training related to groundbreaking restoration techniques that are allowing historic metal bridges to be restored with a greater attention paid to historic integrity for less cost the older methods that greatly reduced the historic integrity of historic bridges. A brochure about the fund is available here. More information about the workshops and conferences funded by the fund are available here. Donate Online Here - Please select "Specific Fund" under Program Designation and type in "Iron and Steel" under the Additional Info section. Download Offline Form In PDF Format (Type Out Form, Print, and Mail)  Historic Bridge Foundation Donate The Historic Bridge Foundation works to encourage government agencies and officials to preserve historic bridges, the Foundation provides consultation and guidance to individuals and groups seeking to preserve historic bridges. The expertise available at the Foundation is evidenced by the fact that HistoricBridges.org frequently refers people to the Foundation for further assistance beyond what HistoricBridges.org itself provides. If you have any questions about why a donation to the Historic Bridge Foundation is worthwhile, feel free to contact HistoricBridges.org. Alternatively, learn more about the Historic Bridge Foundation at their website www.historicbridgefoundation.com. |
Website UpdatesJanuary 20, 2012 - ContentPages for highway truss bridges in Monroe County have been upgraded and had photos added. The photos added include photo-documentation of a project that HistoricBridges.org was involved with to remove five abandoned and deteriorated truss bridges from the county and place them into storage for future restoration. View The Latest Additions To The WebsiteJanuary 17, 2012 - Content11 bridges from Ontario have been added. January 10, 2012 - Content and Interface UpdateA number of bridges for Quebec have been added, as well as a few from New York State and Pennsylvania. Also, some minor tweaks have been made to the browsing experience on HistoricBridges.org, some that may be noticeable and others not so much so. Those interested in a detailed breakdown can view the details below. Buttons on individual bridge pages in the Bridge Browser have been optimized for translation using Google earth, for visitors seeking to translate into a different language. This was done by making the text in the buttons actual HTML text rather than part of the actual image. County-by-county Bridge Browser pages have been improved, as have BridgeSeek results. Historic Significance Rating is now included in the results. Also, table headers can be clicked on to sort. This is not useful for all columns, but can be useful for sorting cities, bridge names, facility carried, and date built. Slot added in database for truss panels. Truss panels now appear
for main span in the dimensions list in the Bridge Browser. Search
box added to BridgeSeek for this new descriptor. You can also order
search results by panels. December 13, 2011 - Large Update43 Bridges have been added. Most of them are bridges from Michigan including everything from "minor" bridges to some significant bascule and truss bridges. A few additional bridges are some gems from New York State and one Pennsylvania bridge. |
