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What
is a "World Guide Number?"
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Earnest
Bridge over the Mohawk River in Lane County is
World Guide No. 37-20-35
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Local
naming of covered bridges can prove to be inconsistent,
and many bridges have more than one name.
Each
bridge in this section has a unique identification called
a World Guide Number. This system of identifying
covered bridges on a national scale was developed in
the 1950s and has
been adopted by the National Society for the Preservation
of Covered Bridges.
The
assigned World Guide Number for each bridge is the combination
of a state, county and bridge identifier.
Oregon,
being the 37th state alphabetically, dictates the first
two digits of the identifier.
The
counties are also assigned numbers in alphabetical order.
All bridges in Benton County, for example, contain the
number 37-02- because Benton County is the second county
in the state alphabetically.
The
third set of numbers are assigned to the actual bridge
location, although the name of the bridge or stream
is not a factor in the assignment. Many bridges have
been destroyed since the adoption of the World Guide
Number. Since the number is not reused or reassigned,
some numbers are missing.
Combinations
of numbers and letters denote a bridge which does not
use a true truss for support but is covered nonetheless.
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