[OSM-talk] Bridge reference tagging and relations

[Gervase Markham]

My proposal for bridge reference tagging:
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Proposed_features/Bridge_Number
which I need for canals has been disapproved on the basis that I should
be using a bridge/tunnel relation:
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Talk:Relations/Proposed/Bridges_and_Tunnels

Reading that page, it seems that not only is the proposal not complete
or approved but, even when it is, it will make bridge tagging for canals
about five times as complicated as it would be otherwise. Given that
many of the arguments about complexity on that discussion end with "in
that simple case, just use the current tagging scheme", it seems that
this complexity has been noted. Why, then, should such a relation be
necessary for a simple task such as adding a reference to a bridge?

Gerv