After the establishment of the Viceroyalty of New Spain in the 16th century, interest in precious metals and mining influenced the emerging economic activities and the communications network of New Spain. All communication infrastructures were built along two mutually perpendicular axes. The first axis ran east to west (connecting Veracruz¿Mexico City¿Acapulco), and the other axis ran north to south (linking the northern part of the Viceroyalty with New Mexico-Zacatecas-Mexico City¿Oaxaca¿Guatemala). As part of the road infrastructures needed to get a continuous flow of goods, bridges were very important for crossing rivers, cliffs, and mountains. Fabrication of these structural elements was based mainly on Roman old-school methods. The geometry, length, and materials used were varied, depending on local labor expertise and the technical improvements at the time. Vestiges of viceregal bridges are scattered across the 2 million km2 of present-day Mexico. Most of them are still in use, but other old Royal Roads were forgotten when they went out of use. This investigation deals with the use of methodology based on information technology to create a web-based management system for viceregal bridges, which is now available for use by the three levels of government in Mexico (Municipality, State, and Federal) and by research institutions.
