(REPLACED) Red River Bridge - Waurika, OK - Truss Bridges on Waymarking.com

August 2024: This bridge has been replaced with a new bridge. This historic bridge is a rare camelback pony truss bridge constructed in 1939 as a joint effort of the Texas Highway Department and the Oklahoma Highway Commission. The bridge was designed by Brooks and Dahlgreen out of Oklahoma City. The builder was Virginia Bridge & Iron. The bridge is 2255 feet in length, crossing the Red River from Jefferson County, OK to Clay County, TX. Highway 79 is only 100 miles long, connecting Wichita Falls, TX and Waurika, OK. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

The bridge consists of twenty-one 100-ft. camelback pony truss spans with a single steel I-beam approach span at either end. The bridge has handled traffic for over 75 years, facilitating commerce between the two states. Over these years, repairs have occasionally been made, due to metal fatigue, and erosion from the shifting river banks. The time has come, however, when the bridge is no longer safe and is being replaced. At the time of our visit in May of 2018, construction was well underway on a second bridge, immediately east of this one. It is not known at this time whether the existing bridge will be eligible for "adoption" and removal to another location.

Date Built: 01/01/1939 Length of Span: 2255 feet www: https://newsok.com/article/3941294/in-oklahoma-state-highway-bridges-a-river-and-time Parking Coordinates:: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
Log your find with a picture of the bridge with yourself or your GPS in the foreground. This shot does not have to be taken "on" the bridge. The shot should show the "truss" structure of the bridge as well.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/06/2024 FLMathfreak visited it