GDOT seeks public tips on historic bridges
The historic St. Marys River Bridge on US Highway 17 on the Georgia/Florida border dates to 1927. (Photo by Ralph Daniel/Georgia Department of Economic Development.)
By John Ruch
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is seeking information from the public about historic bridges across the state.
It’s part of an update of GDOT’s internal inventory of historic bridges, which now means dating to before 1981. “The public outreach effort is being done to gather stories about bridges and what they mean to people in their communities,” said Dianna Litvak, a historian with Mead & Hunt, GDOT’s consulting firm on the project.
GDOT uses the list for such purposes as recommending bridges for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and conducting historic resources impact studies if construction or demolition is planned. The list is also of interest to private groups like the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, which has been circulating the call for input.
The request for information is focused on publicly owned bridges — not ones on private land — built for vehicle use. And the bridge must still be standing.
The input deadline is Sept. 1. An input survey and an email address to submit historic information, such as photos and newspaper articles, are available online.
