There is some risk in focusing too intently on the...

There is some risk in focusing too intently on the characteristics of individual bridges and in doing so overlooking the larger context. Vermont's extraordinary villages and countryside create that context, a colorful blending of natural and cultural resources. A great many of Vermont's bridges, even those that can be called ordinary by engineering standards, are distinctive pieces of this varied but fragile landscape. Many contribute to vistas along important river corridors; others frame entrances to village centers or physically and visually join urban neighborhoods; still others define form and space in unusual ways; some simply mark places for travelers to pause on winding roads that disappear among the hills." ()