From 2002 to 2019, the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)'s Office of Infrastructure Research and Development maintained a joint research and technology program for historic covered bridges. As a result of cooperative research under the FHWA's National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation (NHCBP) Program, HAER has:
- Documented over 100 covered bridges to HAER standards, carried out engineering studies of truss types, and created fly-through tours of some bridges.
- Produced a National Historic Landmark (NHL) context study and successfully nominated seven covered bridges as National Historic Landmarks.
- Held two national conferences and created a traveling exhibition.
- Published Covered Bridges and the Birth of American Engineering (2015).
- Published Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Covered Bridges (2019).
This work has been carried out under the leadership of Christopher H. Marston, HAER Project Leader, with assistance from Justine Christianson, HAER Historian. Richard O'Connor, Chief (retired), Heritage Documentation Programs, was formerly involved. For additional information, please contact Christopher H. Marston at e-mail us or 202-354-2162.
Last updated: November 23, 2022