Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance
Act of 1987 (STURAA)
STURAA requires each
state to inventory both on and off-system bridges to determine historic
significance. The legislation does not establish a deadline. The Federal Highway
Administration policy is to promote reasonable progress towards completion. It
encourages rehabilitation, reuse, and preservation of historic bridges. Most
states have undertaken surveys since its passage. Currently, Clayton Fraser's
Missouri Historic Bridge Inventory report is in its draft stage.
Prior to demolition, historic bridges must be made available to state and local
government and to private groups and individuals. A party must agree to maintain
the features that make a bridge historic, and assume all future legal and
financial responsibility for a bridge. Money in amounts up to the estimated cost
of demolition may be set aside for the preservation of an historic bridge.