Historic bridges nationwide: A comparative analysis of states and identified best practices

ABSTRACT Historic bridges make up an estimated 60% or more of a state transportation agency’s Section 106 compliance projects. With this sheer volume in mind, this article examines different approaches to navigating historic bridge projects that can yield significant time and cost savings for bridge owners. On a national level, the Program Comment for Common Post-1945 Concrete and Steel Bridges has helped streamline Section 106 for an estimated 200,000 bridges by exempting all but those exceptional bridges identified by states. The 11 states that have not yet reported their exceptions are not eligible for the Program Comment at this time and must continue to address 106 individually for bridge projects. Additionally, this article focuses on five states that have worked proactively to manage their historic bridge populations: Minnesota, Louisiana, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Utah. In addressing the non-standardized historic bridge types that are outside the scope of the Program Comment, each state has approached their pool somewhat differently and may focus on all historic bridges or in some cases a subset of structures. In each case, the goal of the state transportation agency has been to manage projects affecting historic bridges more efficiently than past practices. The approaches taken in these five states offer possible models for finding efficiency and savings on historic bridge projects nationwide.