Welcome:

Welcome to the Historic Bridges Page! This page is intended for both those who are interested in historic bridges. More importantly however, this page is also a great place for those who do not know a lot about historic bridges to learn why they are so interesting, and worth preserving. A final intent of this page is to raise awareness of the state of historical bridges in Michigan and abroad. My favorite types of historic bridge are metal truss, and concrete, in that order. I think that historic truss bridges are the most beautiful bridges around. Nothing beats taking a curve around a road and suddenly seeing a truss bridge spanning the bottom of a river valley! This site was inspired by Disappearing Bridges, an awesome site that covers historic bridges in northwestern Pennsylvania and some of northeastern Ohio.

Introduction:

Historic bridges, especially truss bridges, in Michigan and many other places, in serious trouble. Most are either on the waiting list for destruction, and those that are not are closed off and left to rot away. Furthermore, people who may be concerned about truss bridges and visit Michigan's Historic Bridge Page, which is managed by Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), may think that there is nothing to be concerned about. However, I have visited many of the bridges listed on that website and have found disturbing results. Although the bridges in the list are recognized as historical and thus important to our transportation heritage, anyone who visits many of the bridges listed on that page will find out that the majority of bridges are not being preserved. At least two of the bridges on that page that I have visited have been closed to traffic and are dangerous to even walk on. One of those two bridges is so unique that there is only one other bridge in Michigan that is like it. Moreover, there are some historic truss bridges in Michigan that are not listed on MDOT's page. Countless historic concrete bridges are also unlisted.

Features of This Site:

This website features historic bridges that I have seen and photographed. These bridges will be discussed on this site in detail along with photos. A link to the corresponding MDOT page, if one exists, will be present. I would recommend reading MDOT's page first, and then going back and reading my page. Structural features of each bridge will be discussed in detail. I will also be sure to discuss the structural condition of the bridges, and if there is news that they could be torn down. I also attempt to evaluate the historical integrity of each bridge.

Maps are usually available for each bridge, via a link on each page. The map page will have both an overview map of the state/province with a dot showing the relative location of the bridge, and also a full-detail Microsoft Streets map of the area surrounding the bridge. I short textual description will discuss nearby major roads and cities, and tips for getting to the bridge.

This site also features some short opinion pages that I wrote, that discuss my feelings on bridge preservation, and what I think should be done. There is also a links page that has links to other bridge enthusiast pages. Finally, I plan on building a short bridge terminology page so beginners can understand all of the lingo.

A long term goal is to offer a downloadable offline version of this website.

This bridge page works through the use of a main Bridge-Browser Tree Menu that serves as a gateway to all the bridges in the database. Click on the link below.

Click Here To Open The Bridge Browser

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