In this paper, a new method to recognize bridge in the complicated background is presented. The algorithm takes full advantages of the characteristics of the bridge image. Firstly, the image is preprocessed and the object edges are extracted. Then according to the limitations of traditional Hough transform (HT), the extraction method of the image line segment characteristic of HT is improved, which eliminates spurious peaks on the basis of global and local thresholds, discriminates the position relation between two straight line segments, and merges segments with near endpoints, etc. Experiments show that this algorithm is more precise and efficient than traditional HT, moreover it can provide a complete description of the bridge in a complicated background.© (2007) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.