Beveridge Bridge, San Saba County - San Saba, Texas, USA
N 31° 12.634 W 098° 44.442
14R E 524699 N 3452967
A Texas Historic Bridge marker is mounted next to the cable anchors on the south end of the Beveridge Bridge, one of two surviving suspension bridges in Texas.
Waymark Code: WM10HN8
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/11/2019
Views: 5
This Beveridge suspension bridge crosses the San Saba River near San Saba, TX on CR 200 (China Creek Road). A modern concrete support bridge stands next to this historic bridge as the newer bridge carries the vehicular traffic across the river crossing.
The Beveridge bridge was origianlly constructed due to popular demand so the residents in and around San Saba, TX could get access to the railroad depots north of the San Saba River. A immigrant settler, John Beverage, had previously constructed a dam over which people could travel, but by its nature, the path was sometimes not viable during flooding, and probably needed occasional repairs. The county commissioners hired a company from Weatherford, TX to construct the bridge, with Mr. Beveridge as the overseer of the project. The suspension bridge worked successfully through the 1930s but by 1939 flood damage had it needing serious repairs. A Dallas company rebuilt the bridge and this lasted to 2004 when the bridge was closed to automobile traffic. State funds were then used to repair the bridge work for only pedestrian use.
The suspension cabling is a unique technique where galvanized wires are transferring the stress of the loaded bridge through the suspension cables to cast iron tower supports which transfer the stress downward into the ground. The ends of the cables are buried on both sides of the bridge underground. Deterioration of these buried cables was the reason automobile traffic had to stop and only pedestrian traffic was allowed.
Historic significance of this bridge:
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The sign itself reads as follows:
TEXAS HISTORIC BRIDGE
Beveridge Bridge, San Saba County
In the late 19th century, San Saba lacked direct access to developing railroad lines needed to reach expanding markets,. The Beveridge Bridge, a single-lane suspension bridge, was constructed in 1896 to fill this need. The bridge was named for Irish immigrant John H. Beveridge, a former British merchant captain who settled in San Saba in 1849. He originally spanned the river with a dam known as "Beveridge Crossing." By the 1890s locals petitioned County Commissioners for a more reliable crossing.
The Flinn-Moyer Company of Weatherford, Texas built the Beveridge Bridge at a cost of $2275. County Commissioners appointed John H. Beveridge to personally oversee the construction of the bridge that would replace his dam. Completed on June 24, 1896, the bridge was 190 feet long with a 140 foot suspended span. It extends approximately 300 feet between anchorages.
The Beveridge Bridge withstood floods in 1899, 1922 and 1938, After the 1938 flood, County Commissioners requested bids for its reconstruction. The Austin Bridge Company of Dallas was hired to carry out the work. In 1938, the bridge was reconstructed as an unstiffened suspension bridge with new parallel wire main cables spun in-situ on the original 1896 pipe truss towers using No. 9 gauge galvanized steel wire.
In 2004, the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic due to deterioration of the main cable underground. The Texas Department of Transportation used federal highway administration transportation enhancement funds to replace the main cables and restore the bridge for pedestrian use. The bridge continues its transportation legacy as a pedestrian bridge and remains a county-owned landmark.
Project year 2005