Uncovering American Covered Bridges: The HAER National Covered Bridges Recording Project

Wooden covered bridges endure as symbolic reminders of America’s past, of simpler times when crossing a body of water was not taken for granted and horses and carriages were urged to slow to a walk before entering. These structures also represent an important stage in our engineering history, as the development of wooden truss design transitioned from experimental handcrafted works to scientifically developed works of engineering. However, these bridges are a threatened resource. An estimated 10,000 covered bridges have been built in our country’s history, but less than 800 remain. While many were removed due to improvements necessitated by the automobile and modern highway in the first half of the twentieth century, others continue to be lost every year due to floods, arson, and lack of proper maintenance. It was the recognition of the threats and disappearance of these historic bridges that led to a bill sponsored by Vermont Senator James Jeffords, the 1998 National Covered Bridges Preservation Act. This legislation authorized the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) to assist states in preserving, rehabilitating and protecting covered bridges. The Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), a division of the National Park Service, received a portion of this funding to manage the National Covered Bridges Research Program. HAER is uniquely qualified to lead this undertaking as a part of HABS/HAER/HALS, a 70-year old federal program that has documented over 39,000 historic architectural, engineering, industrial, and transportation sites nationwide. HAER reports are transmitted to the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress and available online at: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/. This three-year program has six key components: 1. HAER documentation: identify and document over fifty of the nation’s most significant covered bridges. 2. The First National Best Practices Conference for Covered Bridges. Held at Burlington, VT, June 2003, it was organized by the Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC) of NPS and hosted by Historic Windsor, Inc. 3. The World Guide to Covered Bridges Database: modernize this valuable but out-of-date list in partnership with the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Cultural Resource GIS (CRGIS) division is creating an interactive database, searchable maps, and placing it on a website to be hosted by FHWA. 4. NHL nomination: develop a theme study to determine which covered bridges merit National Historic Landmark status. 5. Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring and Reconstructing Historic Covered Bridges to the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Historic Preservation. This HPTC-produced handbook will feature guidelines and case studies to help officials and engineers comply with federal preservation standards related to saving covered bridges. 6. A traveling exhibit produced with the Smithsonian Institution. Curated by HAER historian Lola Bennett, the exhibit entitled Covered Bridges: Spanning the American Landscape will launch in the spring of 2006.