Abstracts are sought for papers for a national conference on Best Practices in the Care and Repair of Covered Bridges to be held in the historic Billings Center on the campus of the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont, on June 5-7, 2003.

The conference will be organized around three audience tracks:

1. Programs for engineers and architects;
2. Programs for contractors, tradespeople, road agents, and others charged with the repair and maintenance of covered bridges;
3. A track for stewards of covered bridges-volunteers, municipal officials, state transportation staff or historic preservation office staff, tourism officials and others who serve as advocates for covered bridges.

Papers are sought on the following topics:

Preferred format is via electronic submission in Microsoft Word to: no later than the close of business December 9, 2002.

Submissions may be mailed to: The Preservation Education Institute at the above address no later than December 9, 2002.

Abstracts should be no more than 500 words. Presentations at the conference will be approximately one-half hour in length. If selected, presenters will be notified no later than January 17, 2003.

Final papers must be submitted no later than close-of-business April 7, 2003.

Presenters will be asked to sign a release authorizing publication of their articles either in print, electronically, or in alternate formats for people with disabilities. Papers will be published in the conference proceedings. Some articles may be printed in other publications and/or may be published on the Internet. Presenters will receive complimentary tuition to the conference, conference events and a modest travel stipend.

The conference is presented as part of the National Historic Covered Bridge Program funded under Section 1224(b) of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), in partnership with the National Park Service, Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), is undertaking a project to document significant covered bridges in the United States. The Preservation Education Institute is working in partnership with the National Park Service (HAER in Washington, DC and the Historic Preservation Training Center in Frederick, Maryland) and the University of Vermont Historic Preservation Program to present this three-day conference.

For information, please contact Judy L. Hayward, Executive Director of the Preservation Education Institute, email inquiries to coveredbridges@uvm.edu or call 802-674-6752. The conference web site, http://www.uvm.edu/coveredbridges will be updated with information regularly.