Waldrip Bridge
Description
Coleman County Commissioners Court records contain a contract for the county's first bridge across the Colorado River near Waldrip was awarded in January 1894 to George E. King Bridge Co. of Iowa. They completed the job, which was delayed by flood, 12 months later. Another devastating flood on Aug. 6, 1906, caused waters to rise 65 feet above normal levels and five feet above the bridge, destroying it. Five years passed before the current Waldrip Bridge was opened, using the first bridge's rock piers as part of the foundation.Facts
- Overview
- Through truss bridge over Colorado River on CR 220
- Location
- Coleman County, Texas, and McCulloch County, Texas
- Status
- Rehabilitated in 2011 and now open for traffic.
- Future prospects
- The steel-and-wooden-deck Waldrip Bridge is currently undergoing renovations, it is scheduled to reopen in September 2011.
- History
- Built 1911
- Builder
- - George E. King Bridge Co. of Des Moines, Iowa
- Design
- Pratt Through Truss featuring a 170ft main span and 5 smaller secondary spans, 4 on the Northern and 1 on the Southern approaches.
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 170.0 ft.
Total length: 698.2 ft.
Deck width: 14.8 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 7.6 ft.
- Recognition
- Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
- Also called
- Colorado River Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +31.46250, -99.42222 (decimal degrees)
31°27'45" N, 99°25'20" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 14/459887/3480937 (zone/easting/northing)
- Inventory numbers
- TXNBI 230420AA0294001 (Texas bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 32836 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- February 22, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added builder and corrected typo in the description, because his middle initial was E, not D.
- February 12, 2012: New photo from Garry Taylor
- November 9, 2011: New photo from Ken Miller
- September 9, 2011: Updated by Linda Thaxton: There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony on the Rockwood side of the bridge at 11:00 a.m. on September 17 2011. The community of Rockwood is celebrating homecoming that day.
- September 7, 2011: New photos from Linda Thaxton
- August 26, 2011: Updated by aaron leibold: New historic and renovation data
- July 15, 2011: Updated by Linda Thaxton: Currently undergoing rehabilitation. Scheduled to reopen September 2011.
Sources
- Linda Thaxton
- aaron leibold - aaron [dot] mightypenguin [at] gmail [dot] com
- Ken Miller - dermoons [at] gmail [dot] com
- Garry Taylor - indy311 [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
This wonderful bridge was closed again because the company who restored it did not restore it properly. After two years of fighting with them and it has been reopened to traffic once again. My great-grandfather would walk the rails of that bridge when he was a young boy as did my grandfather and my father! We love that bridge and it has sure helped our community since it has been reopened.
My family helped settle the community of Waldrip and my great-grandfather Joseph E. Powell was the Doctor in the area who delivered most of the children of that era.
i remember that bridge, i dropped rocks off that bridge 20 years ago as a child. during hunting trips i would ride my 4wheeler out to the middle and look over. it was pretty scary because the wood planks across the bottom where rotten or missing in some places. looks great now, might have to go check it out when im out there for dove season
How high is the bridge above the riverbed?
This bridge is very interesting from a construction standpoint. The small center panel on the main span uses a mix of round tension rods and the rectangular bars, but the bars look custom-made and involve welding the ends of two bars together with a one yard overlap to get the right length. Excellent restoration, though, and unusually high weight limit for a bridge of this type.
Hey, if it helps...feel free...
I coin a good one every now and then...
Bridgehunter Nation.....can I use that title for the documentary series. working up story ideas. texas is on a path forward....economics drive restoarations....see a lot in the nexy few years.
Beautiful rehab on this impressive structure!
If other states would follow Texas and Indiana and their commitment to historic bridge preservation... Bridgehunter Nation would be such a happy place!!
What an incredibly neat and massive historic through truss bridge a county decided to rehabilitate for what it was built for. There have been several, but not too many of this type over 400+ feet remaining. Especially what for what they were built for, and also that the bridge is unusual with a 170 foot main span and all the other spans are a different length. This is far from where I live but I see this bridges restoration as an example of what can be done.
Good to see that this bridge will be maintained. Very few states can match Texas for commitment to historic bridge preservation.
Some pictures of the Waldrip Bridge. It is on a tentative schedule to be rehabilitated in 2010.
This bridge is also known as the Waldrip bridge. A buddy and I discovered this bridge on an exploratory trip in search of Texas ghost towns. It became the highlight of our weekend and placed the search old trestle bridges at the top of our annual trips.
I was surprised when after discovering bridgehunter.com, it was so difficult to find and didn't have any pictures. It isn't listed on map view in either Coleman or McCullough County, TX. I recently saw where they have decided to restore it and make it traffic-worthy again.
http://billiesays.blogspot.com/2009/08/waldrip-bridge-locate...
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/tx/coleman/230420AA0294001/
It’s Wheelie Wednesday – September 13, 2017
I had the opportunity to spend a little time at this beautiful nostalgic bridge over the Colorado River in Coleman County. It’s known as the Waldrip Bridge, due to it being close to Waldrip Texas, population 15. The bridge has an incredible story to go along with its incredible beauty. It’s a 698ft through-truss-bridge featuring a 170ft main span using a steel-and-wooden-deck. It underwent numerous obstacles getting built as the original contract for construction was awarded in 1894. After a couple of floods, one reaching 65 feet above normal levels, the bridge was finally opened in September of 1911. The bridge closed a few years ago for restoration and renovation and opened back up for traffic in September 2011.
Thank you for tagging along. As I continue to travel around and celebrate 50 years on motorcycles with the Doug Domokos Tribute, I am so fascinated with creation - - - it screams of the creator God Himself. I am in awe that He continues to enable me to go and do what I do and see hearts and souls changed for the Glory to God.
Many more beautiful things to come.
Special thanks to my wife Tina Jackson for capturing these memorable moments through the lens, Dwayne Dove for finding this little gem and sharing it with me, and Dusty Messenger of Fry'D Rice Cycles in Olden Texas for keeping all these wheelie units going. You dream it – He can build it.
Full photo shoot online at https://www.facebook.com/bryan.jackson.186/media_set?set=a.1...