Answered By: Ken Winter
Last Updated: Aug 29, 2022     Views: 257

The library has one of the most complete collections of VDOT's internal newsletter, the VDOT Bulletin, known to exist. The library's collection of the Bulletin is bound by year and available for use in the library, but at this time those bound copies do not circulate.

The Bulletin was first published in November 1934 under the title Virginia Highway Bulletin. In 1974 it was renamed the Bulletin:Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation. It was renamed again in 1987 to Bulletin: A VDOT Monthly Newspaper,  the title by which it is most commonly known today. In 2003 the Bulletin ceased print publication and was produced as a Web-based document from January 2003 to the September-October 2006 issue, which was its final issue.

The Bulletin contains a wealth of information about the history of VDOT (especially the roads/bridges, milestones, staff and history of VDOT districts) and is a great tool for researching the transportation history of Virginia. 

In early 2020 the library completed a scanning project to digitize the Bulletin and make it publicly accessible through a new Digital Collections Site.  In time other special archival collections will be added to the site.

In some instances, the quality of the originals or other issues related to scanning has resulted in "quirks" so users may want to check out this VDOT Bulletin Quick Start Guide.

While the site is fully searchable for 1934-2003, we are including a copy an in-house printed index to the Bulletin for years 1981-2002 in case users find it helpful.

Comments (4)

  1. Was the scanning of the VDOT Bulletin archive ever completed? There is an issue from 1994 I am trying to find, but it doesn't come up in a Google search. Only the "selective" index noted in this entry comes up. Thank you!
    by JOHN RILEY on Jan 30, 2019
  2. Stay tuned! The library is indeed working on a retrospective scanning project of the VDOT Bulletin, which we hope to unveil later in 2019.
    by Ken Winter on Feb 01, 2019
  3. I'm very excited about this and urge you to continue with the work. I design interpretive signs (many of which involve transportation themes such as roads and bridges) and find archival information incredibly useful. Thank you!
    by Julie Basic on Jun 19, 2019
  4. It would be nice if all the issues could be scanned and then transferred to discs that could be purchased.
    by Eddie Estes on Aug 28, 2019