BridgeHunter
| Available in | English |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2002 |
| Founder(s) | James Baughn |
| Parent | Historic Bridge Foundation |
| Website | bridgehunter |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Optional; Required for uploading photos, adding bridges, and editing information |
| Current status | Active |
BridgeHunter is an online database of historic or notable bridges in the United States.
History[edit]
The site didn't get started until James Baughn "discovered" the Wappapello Bridge in Wayne County, Missouri.
This bridge sits very close to a tourist area, Lake Wappepllo, but is largely unknown. It's just off the main highway, but on a little-used side road. It's never mentioned in any tourist brochure. And yet this is one of the most magnificient bridges in Southeast Missouri.
Built in 1911, it has a single 210 foot clear span, large even by modern standards. Its Pennsylvania truss design was state-of-the-art at the time. And remarkably, the company that built it, Stupp Brothers, is still a family-owned business that builds steel bridges (among other things).
It also happens to be in poor condition and scheduled for replacement. But when he first stumbled across this bridge, he thought, "Wow, why doesn't anybody know about this?" He only found it because he was vaguely curious about where the road went and I had a few minutes to kill.
After other leisurely drives, James Baughn found more and more of these historic structures. And he also found a few that had been recently replaced, with perhaps an old pier or piece of discarded metal as the only remaining artifacts of their existence.
He knew: Somebody needs to document these things before they are lost. If some low-budget history museum can get mentioned in the tourist brochures, then why not a real historic site that is still being used? If people are willing to drive long distances to see a covered bridge, then why not a truss bridge? (It could be argued that a covered bridge is merely a truss bridge with a roof.)
As with most websites, this one started small, with photos of a few dozen bridges. But James Baughn quickly learned that he's not the only one with a passion for history and civil engineering, and now this site features photos and information from dozens of contributors in several states. That's good; it means he's not as weird as he thought...
