My consulting firm - Phillip C. Pierce, P.E. - was retained by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to prepare a Covered Bridge Manual for the Federal government. This project was one of the Covered Bridge Research Projects selected by FHWA as part of the National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Program, funded by the Transportation Efficiency Act of the Twenty-first Century (TEA-21). The Manual is an all-inclusive compendium of engineering and construction information about covered bridges, with special focus on historic bridges (generally those older than 50 years). It is now available for free via download from http://www.tfhrc.gov/structur/pubs/04098/ or you may ask for a free copy by contacting the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center of the Federal Highway Administration at (202) 493-3260.

I was joined by three very talented colleagues in this endeavor:

Dr. Robert Brungraber, P.E. (Ben) is a highly respected timber engineer working in New Hampshire. Ben's role has been to provide technical assistance via editing draft text prepared by me. Ben's special expertise involves timber joinery and he helped greatly expand and enrich the chapter dealing with same.

Mr. Abba Lichtenstein, P.E. is world renown as an expert at bridge engineering related to historical structures. Abba's extensive involvement with all types of historic bridge structures and participation in multiple publications for the Federal and State governments enabled him to provide important review of the development of the Manual.

Mr. Scott Sabol has served in senior roles within Federal, State, and research organizations and brings excellent background in the development of similar publications. Scott currently serves on the faculty at the Vermont Technical College and provided important editing and review assistance with the development of the Manual.