The Missouri Department of Transportation is developing a programmatic agreement for common concrete and steel bridges constructed before 1945 in order to streamline the Section 106 review process for bridges.Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 requires agencies to take into account the effects of their undertakings on historic properties.

To aid in the process, MoDOT is asking the public to help identify bridges that are associated with historical events or people of importance to a community.

The public can visit the project website (http://www.modot.org/ehp/Pre1945Bridges.htm) to view photographs of the bridges being studied as well as basic engineering information about each bridge, including its age. An on-line comment form can be completed for bridges identified by the public with space to submit reasons why the bridge is locally important.

Public input is requested by Feb. 15, 2017. The history and engineering of bridges identified will be studied and recommendations on eligibility will be made about the eligibility of each bridge for the National Register of Historic Places. The public will be able to see the results of the study on the website.

The programmatic agreement will study more than 700 common concrete slab and beam bridges, steel girder bridges and 850 culverts. For National Register-eligible bridges that may be removed by a future project, preservation options and mitigation measures will be identified.

For more information on the Pre-1945 Common Bridge Programmatic Agreement, please contact Karen Daniels, Senior Historic Preservation Specialist at karen.daniels@modot.mo.gov or by telephone at 573-526-7346.