Michigan's historic highway bridges are rapidly being torn down and replaced as they deteriorate or become unable to support increased traffic volumes and loads. While the state has the responsibility of providing safe bridges, historian Charles K. Hyde maintains that the state must also preserve many of these remaining historic structures to insure that future generations will have them to view and appreciate. In Historic Highway Bridges of Michigan, Hyde identifies Michigan's historically significant highway bridges within the broader contexts of American bridge design and construction in the 19th and 20th centuries. The book summarizes the improvement of highway bridge design in the United States and compares Michigan's experiences with national trends. To aid the reader interested in visiting the historic highway bridges of Michigan, regional maps show the location of bridges included in the text.

This guide provides bridge related definitions and corresponding commentaries, as well as the framework for a systematic approach to a preventive maintenance program. The goal is to provide guidance on bridge preservation. This guide is intended for Federal, State, and local bridge engineers, area engineers, bridge owners, and bridge preservation practitioners.

This report presents a literature search, findings of a survey on the current state of historic bridge rehabilitation or replacement decision making by state and local transportation agencies, and nationally applicable decision-making guidelines for historic bridges. The guidelines are intended to be used as the protocol for defining when rehabilitation of historic bridges can be considered prudent and feasible and when it is not based on engineering and environmental data and judgments. The guidelines include identification of various approaches to bringing historic bridges into conformance with current design and safety guidelines/standards, and the effect or implications of remedial action on historical significance. There are currently no such nationally applicable decision-making guidelines, but there are a variety of state and local processes and policies for managing historic bridges. Effective practices for the various processes inform the nationally applicable guidelines. The guidelines are in narrative and matrix format.

"This synthesis report will be of interest to state highway design engineers and structural engineers, as well as environmental and historic preservation personnel in transportation agencies. It will also be of interest to state historic preservation offices, federal historic preservation agencies, ang engineering preservation consultants"--Avant-propos.

Intended to aid planners in the consideration of both historical merit and highway use of bridges.