historic context of maryland highway bridges built between 1948 ...

SECTIONSIXResults of Field InvestigationsCriterion D“Properties can be eligible for the National Register if they have yielded or are likely to yieldinformation important in prehistory or history.”Because this Criterion applies ordinarily to archeological resources, eligibility under thisCriterion was not evaluated as part of this study.The Historic Highway Bridges in Maryland: 1631 – 1960, Historic Context Report containsadditional criteria for common bridge types and technologies found in Maryland. The fieldworkand contextual research conducted by URS and Hardlines as part of the Historic HighwayBridges of the 1948-1960 Period Project revealed that the following factors are particularlyimportant in evaluating postwar bridges in Maryland, and may be used to augment the abovementionedNational Register Criteria. These evaluation factors include:Association with statewide transportation planning efforts:- Private automotive clubs or local/county governments constructed many bridges inthe nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As transportation planning matured bymid-century, postwar transportation planning projects were often initiated on the statelevel (following federal planning guidelines). This is indicative of new transportationlaws that took a more standardized approach to transportation planning.Association with large transportation infrastructure projects:Scale:- Many of these bridges may not be significant examples when evaluated individually.However, postwar transportation planning in Maryland was sometimes characterizedby larger projects that encompassed more than one bridge. It is important to evaluatethe thematic and design relationships between an individual bridge and any potentiallarger transportation project (which may include an evaluation of the larger resource).An individual bridge, while lacking individual significance, could be evaluated as acontributing resource within a larger district of related resources.- Bridges that display a larger scale should be more carefully evaluated. The postwarperiod of transportation planning in Maryland was frequently associated with thedesign and construction of wider, dualized roadway design. This effort later includedlimited access interstate highways, which were preceded by the design of roadwaysthat were larger—and wider—and could better accommodate a higher rate of traveland a larger capacity.Safety improvements:- Many postwar bridges were designed to replace smaller, earlier structures. Roadwayimprovements in Maryland often demonstrate an increased sense of safety; tight,narrow, and dangerous curves associated with earlier roadways (intended for a slowerrate of speed) were often replaced in the postwar era. Postwar automotive travel (andtransportation design) was distinctly different than prewar travel—much of thisrelates to different life-safety features associated with a higher rate of speed.-\15-SEP-11\\ 7-4