In 2014, TxDOT began a multi-year planning process for all historic bridges in the state that integrates:

• Public engagement opportunities, and
  
• Bridge management planning efforts to develop and demonstrate effective strategies

Challenges for historic bridges include new demands driven by evolving economic development needs, changing population in rural areas and demands on public funding. TxDOT strives to involve many points of view in efforts to assess and plan for a historic bridge’s potential future.

Sometimes a bridge can be successfully rehabbed for ongoing vehicular service, such as the recent Piano Bridge project completed in partnership with Fayette County. Sometimes it can be successfully adapted for a new use such as San Antonio’s Hays Street bridge adaption as a hike-and-bike facility. Details of this planning process are embedded in the recently revised Historic Bridge Manual.

Metal Truss Bridges

As a component of our historic bridge management process, TxDOT plans to host a series of open houses in early summer 2015 focused on historic metal truss bridges. To facilitate conversations regarding options for managing these historic bridges, please join TxDOT staff, representatives from the Historic Bridge Foundation and the Texas Historical Commission's transportation liaison in conversation at the open houses. Please let us know if you would like to be updated as details for the open houses are finalized.

The fact sheets below are a starting point for bridge management. They contain information gathered from bridge engineers, inspectors and historians to identify issues for local governments and municipalities. Information about metal truss bridge components are available in the visual glossary.

• After Bridge Inspections
• After Floods
• After Impact Damage
• After Vandalism
• Best Maintenance Practices

Postwar Historic Bridges

TxDOT, the Texas Historical Commission (THC) and Historic Bridge Foundation (HBF) worked together to determine which bridges in Texas built between 1945 and 1965 are the most significant. More than 100 of these bridges were determined to be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) for their historic and engineering significance.

• Fact Sheet
• Significant Initiatives and Innovations
• Mitigation Options
• Historic Bridges in Texas
• Posters

Historically Significant Bridges (Post-1945)

• Statewide List
• Statewide Map