When Blasterz visited this bridge recently, there were two things that stood out to us. One is that it is a Franken-bridge, meaning made up of several different parts from different eras. The original Pratt through truss and metal girder bridge dates from 1900. Then in 1928 a formed concrete overpass bridge was built to accommodate expanded Evans road and its rise in automobile traffic. The combination of concrete overpass, steel stringer bridge, metal struts, concrete abutments, and a metal truss bridge with pony plate approaches is a lot different elements, which is why we call this a Franken-bridge. It's not elegant, but it is hardy and useful.
What also stood at us is that while jarring, apparently all these different elements work beautifully together, since his railroad bridge has been in use on a very busy railroad corridor for 123 years (as of 2023).
From Bridgehunter: (
visit link)
"UP - Cibolo Creek Bridge
Bexar County, Texas, and Comal County, Texas
Facts
Overview
Through truss bridge over Cibolo Creek and Evans Road on the Union Pacific Railroad (MKT)
Location
San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, and Comal County, Texas
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1900
Builder
- Phoenix Bridge Co. of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
Railroads
- Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT)
- Union Pacific Railroad (UP)
Design
Pratt through truss with concrete girder, steel stringer and pony plate girder approach.
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 149.9 ft.
Total length: 463.9 ft.
Deck width: 15.0 ft.
Also called
MKT - Cibolo Creek Bridge
Katy - Cibolo Creek Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+29.60248, -98.31317 (decimal degrees)
29°36'09" N, 98°18'47" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
14/566506/3274934 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Schertz
Elevation
769.7 ft. above sea level
Inventory numbers
TXNBI 150150AA0242001 (Texas bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
TXNBI 150150B11478009 (Texas bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 32774 (Bridgehunter.com ID)"