This gorgeous cantilevered Warren through truss bridge on the US 190 over the Colorado River between San Saba and Lampasas counties in TX was built in 1940 to carry a newly-designated US highway over a major Texas river.
The bridge was named to the US National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
From the National Register Nomination Form on the Texas Historic Sites Atlas: (
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"Description:
The US 190 Bridge at the Colorado River consists of one three-span continuous truss unit 600 feet long and three three-span continuous I-beam units serving as approach spans on the bridge's west end. The bridge serves on US 190 at the Lampasas and San Saba county line, linking Lampasas and San Saba, the county seats (see Figure 1). These two counties are on the boundary between the Western Cross Timbers region of North Central Texas and the Edward's Plateau of southwest Texas. The region's economy relies primarily on diversified agriculture, emphasizing cattle, cotton and corn. Pecans are also an important resource to the region, with the town of San Saba claimed as "The Pecan Capital of the World."
Texas Highway Department (THD) engineers custom-designed the bridge's truss spans. These spans form a continuous Warren truss with top chords resembling the curve seen in suspension bridges (see Photograph 3). Both the truss spans and the concrete approach spans rest on reinforced concrete dumbbell piers, some with square battered columns and others with cylindrical battered columns (see Photograph 2). Both spread footing and precast concrete pile foundations are employed. The bridge provides a 24-foot roadway with 1?-foot curbs serving as refuge walks for stranded pedestrians. THD Type P approach railing consists of steel channel rails and reinforced concrete posts. Truss railing employs 12-inch deep steel channels (see Photograph 1). At each end of the bridge, a bronze plaque affixed to a concrete monument identifies the bridge contractor, as well as the governmental agencies responsible for the project. The plaque reads:
COLORADO RIVER BRIDGE
BUILT IN 1940 BY THE
TEXAS HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
? * ?
FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY
PUBLIC ROADS ADMINISTRATION
? * ?
STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION
BRADY GENTRY CHAIRMAN
HARRY HINES MEMBER
ROBERT LEE BOBBITT MEMBER
JULIAN MONTGOMERY
HIGHWAY ENGINEER
CAGE BROTHERS & L.A. TURNER
CONTRACTORS
A water level gaging station operated by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) is attached to the bridge's south side.
From 1939 through 1940, Cage Brothers & L.A. Turner built the Colorado River bridge under contract to THD. No major repairs or alterations have been performed on this bridge. As such, it retains substantial integrity of design, materials and workmanship. The bridge and its surroundings appear relatively unchanged since 1940, maintaining integrity of location, setting, feeling and association. Although no projects are currently planned for the Colorado River bridge, its BRINSAP sufficiency rating as of May 1996 is 56.7, making it eligible for rehabilitation, but not replacement, under the federal Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program (HBRRP).
The US 190 Bridge at the Colorado River was constructed from 1939 to 1940. This custom-designed continuous truss bridge with its combination of typifying features is significant for embodying the defining characteristics of a THD truss bridge. As such, the bridge meets National Register Criterion C in the area of Engineering at a state level of significance.
The Colorado bridge was built on US 190, which linked Central Texas with East Texas. It originated in Brady, the McCulloch County seat, and extended east through San Saba and Lampasas counties on to Temple, Bryan, Huntsville, Livingston, Woodville, Jasper and Newton. The portion of US 190 through the Central Texas counties of McCulloch, San Saba and Lampasas followed the route of former State Highway (SH) 74. About 1937, SH 74 was improved and upgraded to US highway status, holding the shared designation US 190/SH 74. By the early 1950s the SH 74 designation had been completely dropped.
The Colorado River bridge was constructed to replace the former bridge, known as the Red Bluff Bridge, damaged in a severe flood in July 1938. The Red Bluff Bridge consisted of a single Pennsylvania (also known as Petit) through truss span and a Pratt pony truss span flanked by timber trestle approach spans. The flood washed out the timber approach spans, leaving the two truss spans intact. THD initially intended to maintain a detour around the bridge. According to his July 26, 1938, teletype to Herbert Eldridge, Acting State Bridge Engineer, the district engineer believed that the damaged bridge "would be too costly to rebuild" and that the crossing should "be closed indefinitely or until a new bridge can be built on relocation." The teletype continued with a layout of a rather long detour route. J.B. Early, State Maintenance Engineer, stated in his memorandum of the same date, that if there were "no immediate plans for a new structure. . . we wish to consider a temporary bridge rather than maintaining such long detours." In November 1938, THD maintenance forces implemented repairs to the bridge. As detailed in a February 24, 1939, memorandum from the district engineer, "the repairs consisted of replacing the entire wooden floor system on the west approach, the construction of three steel pile trestles out of salvaged steel H-beams from the low water Montopolis Bridge at Austin, the I-beam stringers from the salvaged Castell Bridge in Llano and the replacement of the wooden floor system on the east approach."
In the meantime, THD engineers had applied for federal emergency relief funds from the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) to cover the cost of constructing a new bridge. The application covered two additional bridges destroyed by the July 1938 flood, including the Colorado River Bridge in Fayette County (refer to nomination of State Highway 71 Bridge at the Colorado River, FT0265-14-038, NRHP 1995). On November 28, 1938, BPR approved the use of emergency relief highway funds provided for under Section 3 of the Hayden-Cartwright Act of 1934. In addition to extending federal relief funding established under the National Industrial Recovery Act, the Hayden-Cartwright Act provided emergency funds for the repair or reconstruction of highways and bridges on the federal aid system "which have been damaged or destroyed by floods, hurricanes, earthquakes or landslides. . . ." The approval granted $367,500 to cover 50 percent of the estimated construction cost for these three bridges. The cost of constructing a new bridge over the Colorado at Red Bluff was estimated at $275,000, with $137,500 to be covered by the federal funds.
THD engineers prepared the plans for the new bridge and BPR engineers reviewed and approved them. Rather than use a standard design, THD bridge engineers developed a special design for the bridge, employing a continuous truss span for improved economy and appearance. The bridge's top chord curves between two high points, similar to the cable configuration used on suspension bridges. The truss' high points lie over the piers, reflecting the need to resist larger stresses at these locations.
The US 190 Bridge at the Colorado River is one of only seven continuous through truss bridges surviving in Texas and one of only five built before World War II. The Brazos River bridge in Palo Pinto County (refer to nomination of US 281 Bridge at the Brazos River, PP0250-02-018, NRHP 1995) is the only other historic truss bridge in Texas with a curved and peaked top chord. . . . "