Quick start guide
This guide provides a basic introduction to making
changes to the site. If you have any questions or problems, please
contact the Webmaster.
Your settings
Before doing anything else, you may want to
review your settings
and decide whether you want your email address to appear on the site. You can also
link to your personal website if you have one. In the future, you can always
change your email address or password if necessary.
Editing a bridge
When you go to any bridge page while logged in, you will see several new buttons for making changes:
Upload photos allows you to post one or more photos for this bridge.
Edit bridge lets you make changes to the bridge's facts and categories.
Add essay gives you the ability to add free-form information that isn't covered elsewhere on the page.
Manage photos lets you add/edit/rearrange/delete any photos that you've already uploaded here.
Uploading photos

The standard photo uploader tool lets you select up to 9 photos from your hard drive
to post. You can also package your photos into a ZIP archive and the system will
automatically handle all of the photos (with no limit).
If you are running an up-to-date browser with the Java 1.5 plug-in available, you
may wish to try the Java uploader tool, which lets you post all of the photos
in a folder without requiring you to select them one-by-one. You can also view
a preview of the photos and rotate them as necessary.
JPEG photos are preferred, although the system will attempt to use other common formats
(however, they will be converted to JPEG). There's no need to upload photos that
are larger than roughly 2 megapixels, as these will take longer to transfer without
any additional benefit. If you are concerned about visitors accessing
high-resolution versions of your photos, you may wish to upload lower-resolution
versions only (as long as they are at least 400 pixels wide or tall).
After the photos are uploaded, you will have the opportunity to preview them,
reject any photos that you don't wish to use, write a title and description for each,
and determine how you wish to be credited for them. You can always go back and
make changes by using the "Manage photos" or "Edit this photo" controls on the bridge page.
Other users (except the Webmaster) will not be able to modify your photos.
Adding a bridge
If you can't find a particular bridge, you can create a new page for it from scratch.
First,
read the guidelines below to make sure the bridge is worthy of posting.
Then, determine which county the bridge is located in, and find that
county page.
The county page will include two controls for adding a bridge:
The Add bridge here button lets you create a bridge page by filling in a form.
Follow the directions and complete as much of the form as possible based on what
you know. If in doubt, select the most reasonable choice, or leave it blank.
After saving the form, the system will give you the link to the newly created
bridge page. You can always edit the bridge in the future if you realize
you made a mistake or if you find updated information.
The other button, Import from NBI, lets you browse the National Bridge Inventory
for the bridge. While far from perfect, the NBI includes almost all bridges that
are open to traffic on public roads. If you can find the bridge,
then you won't need to manually enter the basic facts
(size, location, inspection ratings, basic design, etc.), since these will already
be on file. Feel free, however, to change or update
anything that might be wrong or incomplete.
Categories
Categories are an important way to organize bridges, making it easier for people
to research them. From the
main Categories page,
you can use the
Add Category link to create your own category, which
can be a city, builder, highway, railroad, waterway, status, or design feature.
After creating a category, you can add bridges to it one-by-one from each bridge's
edit form.
You can also use the Add bridges here button from any category page to add
multiple bridges by doing a keyword search and selecting the bridges you want
to include.
Email submissions
New! This feature is still experimental.
You can email photos from your smartphone or other device and have them quickly appear on a bridge
page or in a forum comment.
First, go to the Settings page for your account and
look at the email address given under "Personalized email address for submissions."
Emails sent to this special address will be processed by the system and linked to your account. Use
the subject line to specify the destination:
- To post a comment to the forum (without specifying a particular bridge), use the subject
line "Forum" and then put your comment in the email body. Any photo attachments will
be posted along with your comment.
- To post a comment about a particular bridge (which will appear on that bridge's page as
well as the many forum), type "Forum:" in the subject line followed by either the bridgehunter ID number,
the URL of the bridge page, or the name of the bridge.
- To post photos to a bridge page, just put the bridgehunter ID number, the URL of the bridge
page, or the name of the bridge in the subject line. If possible, the filenames of the attached
photos will be used to determine photo titles. For example, "north-portal.jpg" will become "North portal".
However, if the filename is something generic assigned by the camera, like "DSC_0109.JPG", the system
will ignore the name, but you can always fill it in later.
Caution: Since it's possible for multiple bridges to have the same exact name, if you specify
the name (instead of ID number) in the subject line, the system might pick the wrong bridge.
After you send the email, the system will respond with a status update showing whether
it was processed successfully or not.
The purpose of this website is to showcase bridges that are
historic or interesting. We don't have the resources to maintain
a database of every UCEB (Ugly Concrete Eyesore Bridge) in the country.
With that in mind, here are some guidelines for deciding whether
a bridge is worthy of including here:
- Take a look through the site to get a feel for the bridges
that are featured here. If you think a bridge is historic
or interesting, then other people probably will too. But don't
get carried away.
- As a general rule, bridges with truss, arch, suspension, or cable-stayed
designs are welcome, regardless of age. I don't mind showcasing
modern truss or arch bridges, especially if the engineers
have been able to adapt historic designs for modern needs. Also, modern suspension and cable-stayed
bridges are usually fairly major landmarks that are worthy of inclusion.
However, please use your best judgement to weed out minor or insignicant
bridges. Pre-fabricated welded footbridges and corrugated pipe culverts
are not worth the trouble, even if they are technically considered
trusses or arches.
- Freeway overpasses are generally not worth including, except for some early
designs before the 1960s. Historic preservationists are paying more attention
to some of these bridges from the pre-Interstate and early-Interstate eras.
But stay away from UCEBs.
- Depression-era bridges, especially those with remaining WPA or CCC
markings, are welcome, even if the bridges are otherwise fairly mundane.
- Authentic covered bridges are certainly welcome, and even modern
reconstructions are fine as long as the builders tried to stay true to historic designs with
wooden trusses or arches. However, don't bother with
fake-looking bridges and so-called "romantic shelters."
- Privately-owned bridges, especially those on somebody's driveway, are generally
frowned upon. I don't want anybody to get into a confrontation
with a gun-toting maniac landowner. If the landowner welcomes visitors,
or the bridge is easily accessible to the general public, then it's probably
OK. But don't take any chances.
- Railroad bridges are fair game as long as you can access the bridge
without trespassing (only fools walk along active railroad tracks).
- If an historic bridge has been replaced by a UCEB, it's perfectly acceptable to
post a couple photos of the new bridge to provide proof that it's been replaced
and to give a feel for the surroundings. But the focus should be on
the original bridge, not its ugly successor.
- Just because a bridge has been declared NOT eligible for the National
Register of Historic Places doesn't mean that it shouldn't be posted here.
It might become eligible in the future as it ages or become more rare,
so there's no harm in documenting it now.
- Some people may argue that a tunnel is not truly a "bridge."
Most authorities lump the two types of structures together, so I don't see anything wrong
with posting tunnels here. However, watch out for "tunnels" that
turn out to be little more than minor underpasses. Also, I don't have a problem
against listing ferry crossings since these serve a "bridge-like"
function and, in some cases, can even be considered "movable bridges."