The following resources provide information on historic bridges in Texas and around the nation:
Texas Department of Transportation
- Texas Historic Bridges - History, bridge types, visual glossary, videos of bridge restoration projects and moving bridges, map of historic bridges, and bridges available for adoption
- National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Listing - The most comprehensive history of post-war roads, bridge types, and specific important bridges in Texas
- Map of Historically Significant Postwar Bridges
- Farm/Ranch to Market Facts - History and statistics about the Texas Farm/Ranch to Market road network
- A Guide to the Research and Documentation of Local Texas Bridges - Information on how to research and document bridges built at the local level by counties and municipalities (as opposed to those built by the Texas Highway Department/Texas Department of Transportation)
- Texas-Mexico International Bridges and Border Crossings - Information on Texas’ 28 vehicular border crossings
- TxDOT's 100 Years - Information on TxDOT's history, from 1917 to the present
- Archeology and History: Texas' Cultural Environment - TxDOT's Archeology and History home page
- A Journey Through Texas and Time - Highlights of TxDOT's archeological and historical discoveries
Texas Historical Commission
- Historic Bridges in Texas - THC's historic bridges homepage
- Historic Texas Highways - THC's historic roads and highways homepage, including information on the Bankhead Highway, Meridian Highway, Route 66, and more
- Post-World War II Bridges in Texas - Information on bridges built after 1945
- Researching Roads and Roadside Architecture - Information on roadways, gas stations, drive-in theaters, motels, diners, signage and more
- Post-World War II Roads in Texas - Information and photographs of mid-century roads
- Texas Time Travel - Select historic bridges to see when planning your next road trip
Other States’ Historic Bridge Inventories and Histories
- Arizona Department of Transportation, Historic Bridge Inventory - Section E.7 of the National Register nomination “Vehicular Bridges in Arizona 1880-1964” includes a discussion of Arizona’s post-war highway construction
- California Department of Transportation, California’s Historic Bridges and Tunnels - Several inventory and context updates that include history of post-war bridge types; several documents include pre-1960 bridges and 1961 to 1965 bridges
- Colorado Department of Transportation, Highway Bridges in Colorado, National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form - Covers the history and technology of Colorado's highway bridges from 1880-1958, including a discussion of the development of Colorado’s interstate highway system beginning in the 1940’s
- Florida Department of Transportation, Historic Florida Bridges - Includes a discussion of the post-war era and the emergence of the interstate highway system
- Indiana Department of Transportation, Indiana Historic Bridges Context Study, 1830s-1965 - Section 2G outlines the post-war highway development in Indiana; Section 3 outlines various bridge types including post-war bridge types such as prestress concrete girder bridges
- Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Historic Context for Louisiana Bridges - Section 2F outlines the post-war development of and bridge types built in the Louisiana Highway System
- Maryland State Highway Administration, “Tomorrow’s Roads Today” Expressway Construction in Maryland, 1948-1965 - Includes a discussion of post-war highway construction, and of the 1952 Chesapeake Bay Bridge
- Minnesota Department of Transportation, Historic Bridges - “Types of Historic Bridges in Minnesota” provides general information regarding bridge forms and types, including information on prestressed concrete bridges
- New Mexico Department of Transportation, Historic Bridges in New Mexico: An Updated Guide for Evaluation - Information on post-war highway construction and bridge types in New Mexico
- New York State Department of Transportation, Contextual Study of New York State’s Pre-1961 Bridges - Information on post-war bridge building activity in New York State
- Ohio Department of Transportation, Historic Bridges Guidance - Includes the statewide historic bridge inventory and historic context
- Utah Department of Transportation, Historic Bridge Survey Inventory Forms - Statewide inventory of postwar bridges
- The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology, Bibliography of State Historic Bridge Inventories
Other Resources
- Federal Highway Administration, Post-1945 Highway Bridge Engineering - Series of five content pages, including bibliography, which characterize the materials and methods used on bridges during the post-war era
- National Trust for Historic Preservation - Bridge saving tips adapted from Historic Bridge Foundation
- Historic Bridge Foundation, Texas Bridges - A national advocacy organization for the preservation of historic bridges in the United States
- National Cooperative Highway Research Program, A Context For Common Historic Bridge Types - Addresses bridges built through 1955 and provides historic context about the most common bridge types and their historical significance
- Bridge Hunter - A database of historic or notable bridges in the United States
- Bridge Reports - A searchable version of the National Bridge Inventory
- Texas Escapes, Texas Bridges - Vintage photos and postcards of select Texas bridges
- Texas State Historical Association, Highway Development - This Handbook of Texas article details the development of highways in Texas
- HistoricBridges.org, Encyclopedia of Bridges in North America and World - Features photo-documentation and narratives of historic bridges, detailed search functions on a variety of attributes, including location, crossing, bridge type, builders/engineers, status, dates of construction, etc.
- Oscar Slotboom, Houston Freeways and Dallas-Fort Worth Freeways - Trace the detailed highway history of Texas' largest metropolitan areas
- Ron Jackson, Texas Historic Freeways & Roads - Information on the history of Texas roadways and interesting places
- Brian Purcell, The Texas Highway Man - Information related to the development of highways in Texas with emphasis on the San Antonio area
- The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology, Bibliography of State Historic Bridge Inventories
- Agata Krzysztofik, SimScale, The Elastomeric Bearing Pad and Its Role in Bridge Design - Information on this post-war innovation used throughout the country
- Building the Golden Gate Bridge - Period report on the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge
- Emory Kemp and Jet Lowe, The Fabric of Historic Bridges - Scholarly article on development of structural forms for historic American bridges
- Eric DeLony, HAER's Historic Bridge Program - Information on the development of the Historic American Engineering Record's (HAER) efforts to document historic bridges
- Eric DeLony, The Value of Old Bridges - Discussion of the legacy of American bridge construction and the value of preserving historic bridges, highlighting 15 unique examples across the country
