Rating:
36690
{89}%
7 votes
Canadian River Wagon Bridge
Photos
Photo taken by Historic American Engineering Record
BH Photo #114997
Documents
 | CANADIAN RIVER WAGON BRIDGE HAER No. TX-41PDF (53 KB)
Posted by Jesse Sharkoman Berube
View |
Description
This 3,255'-0"-long structure is the longest pin-connected bridge in Texas, and was the state's longest metal truss bridge prior to the completion ofthe Rainbow Bridge connecting Orange and Port Arthur in 1938. Two previous bridges at this site built in 1888 and 1889 were washed away by floods, and after some delays, voters finally approved a 1915 initiative to build a more permanent crossing of the river. The structure completed in 1916 included seventeen 155'-0" long and 27-0" high pin connected Parker through trusses for a 2,635'-0" total length. The 16'-0" roadway rested atop concrete piers with steel footings driven 65'-0" into the riverbed. When high water widened the river in 1923, the county paid the Austin Bridge Company of Dallas to provide four additional Parker through trusses with the same dimensions and the same substructure. This increased the bridge's length by 620'-0". By the 1950s, the 16'-0" roadway had become too narrow to safely carry passing traffic. In 1953, a new $1 million concrete and steel structure, built with state highway funds by the Austin Bridge Company of Dallas, bypassed the original bridge. Today, the Canadian River Wagon Bridge carries a natural gas pipeline for the High Plains Natural Gas Company
Facts
- Overview
- Nineteen-span through truss with Two-span pony truss bridge over Canadian River
- Location
- Hemphill County, Texas
- Status
- Open to pedestrians only
- History
- Built 1916 by the Canton Bridge Co.; four additional spans added 1923; bypassed by new bridge in 1953; rehabilitated and opened to pedestrian traffic in 2000
- Builders
- - Austin Brothers Bridge Co. of Dallas, Texas/Atlanta, Georgia (1923 Spans) [also known as Austin Bridge Co.]
- Canton Bridge Co. of Canton, Ohio (Original Spans)
- Design
- Nineteen, 7-panel, pin-connected Parker through trusses
One, Pony truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 155.0 ft.
Total length: 3,255.0 ft. (0.6 mi.)
Deck width: 16.0 ft.
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +35.93564, -100.37146 (decimal degrees)
35°56'08" N, 100°22'17" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
- Approximate UTM coordinates
- 14/376289/3977679 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Canadian East
- Inventory number
- BH 36690 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- July 2, 2022: Document added by Jesse Sharkoman Berube
- March 7, 2022: Updated by Mark Gonzalez: Updated Span Count
- October 19, 2021: New Street View added by Paul Plassman
- October 26, 2020: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
- October 30, 2013: New photos from John Scruggs
- April 16, 2012: New photo from Dan Crawford
- April 10, 2012: Updated by Dan Crawford: Added category "Pin-connected"
- October 4, 2011: New Street View added by Craig Philpott
- June 14, 2010: New Street View added by Nathan Holth
- June 10, 2008: New photos from Historic American Engineering Record
Yes, it would definitely qualify! Just need to get the powers that be to nominate it.