DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the Texas Historical Commission put on the marker down by the Brazos River in Knox County. Now, most bridges just sit there and do their job without any fuss, but this one — this one earned its reputation the hard way. Let's go back to 1901, when the first bridge went up over the Brazos south of Benjamin, linking the Knox County seat to points south on what was then State Highway 16.
Four 119-foot Pratt through truss spans, two pony truss spans — a fine piece of work for its day. But the Brazos River is not a forgiving landlord, and by 1934, engineers were filing reports that the old bridge was in seriously deteriorated condition. The river had been collecting its rent, and the bill had come due.
So the call went out for a replacement. Texas highway department engineers didn't just dust off some standard plan — they developed a special design, a warren truss configuration with parallel top and bottom chords. The contractor, Oran Speer of Alvord, got the job.
The steel truss spans themselves were fabricated all the way out in Roanoke, Virginia, by the Virginia Bridge Company, then hauled to the edge of the Brazos. Construction began on May 2, 1938, and they built the new bridge immediately upstream of the old one. Now, here's where the Brazos reminded everyone who was really in charge — partway through construction, a pier of the old bridge subsided.
Just gave up and sank. They had to close the old crossing entirely and throw together a detour road just to keep Knox County connected to the rest of Texas. But the work pushed on.
What they were building was no ordinary crossing. A statewide historic bridge survey in the 1990s would later identify it as one of only five continuous through truss bridges in Texas built before World War II. Just five in the whole state.
The design is something to appreciate even if you're just rolling across it at highway speed — a three-span continuous truss unit measuring 382 and a half feet, flanked by two simply supported truss spans each 96 feet long, the truss spans resting on reinforced concrete piers, the approach spans on precast concrete pile bents, with three steel I-beam approach spans on the south side and two on the north. By January 11, 1939, the new bridge was open to traffic. Officially completed on March 16, 1939.
Total cost: about $138,000. In 1996, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places at the state level of significance. The road it carries has gone by different names over the years — State Highway 16, then State Highway 283, now State Highway 6 — but the bridge just keeps doing what it was built to do: holding the line over the Brazos, one of only five of its kind, born out of a sinking pier and a river that never stopped pushing back.
What the marker says
This bridge was constructed in 1938-39 to replace a 1901 bridge and provide a crossing over the Brazos River. Located on State Highway 6 (originally State Highway 16 and later State Highway 283) south of Benjamin, the bridge links the Knox County seat to points south. A statewide historic bridge survey in the 1990s identified it as one of only five continuous through truss bridges in Texas built before World War II. The design consists of a three-span continuous truss unit measuring 382 1/2 feet flanked by two simply supported truss spans each 96 feet long. The bridge has three steel I-beam approach spans on the south side and two on the north. The truss spans rest on reinforced concrete piers and the approach spans rest on a series of precast concrete pile bents. The 1901 bridge, consisting of four 119-foot Pratt through truss spans and two pony truss spans, was reported to be in seriously deteriorated condition by 1934. During construction of the new bridge immediately upstream of the old one, a pier of the old bridge subsided, requiring closing of the bridge and construction of a detour road. Texas highway department engineers developed a special design for the replacement bridge’s truss spans, with a warren truss configuration with parallel top and bottom chords. Oran Speer of Alvord was the contractor, and the Virginia Bridge Company of Roanoke, Virginia, fabricated the steel truss spans. Construction began on May 2, 1938, the new bridge was open to traffic by January 11, 1939, and the project was officially completed on March 16, 1939, at a cost of about $138,000. In 1996, the bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places at the state level of significance.