DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to do it justice. Now, the Pecos River isn't what you'd call a gentle waterway. For the last sixty miles before it meets the Rio Grande, the thing cuts through high canyon walls that'll make you feel about the size of a fence post.
This is country that does not apologize for itself. The Southern Pacific Railroad figured that out back in 1891, when they went ahead and built the first high bridge across the Pecos River. A railroad bridge, mind you — because if you wanted to cross this river, you had better be serious about it.
It wasn't until 1923 that the first highway bridge came along, built one mile down river from where you're standin' now. And here's where the story gets interesting. That bridge sat just fifty feet above the water.
Fifty feet sounds like something, until the Pecos decides it isn't. In 1954, floodwaters destroyed it. Gone.
So they built a temporary low water bridge in 1954. The river took that one too. They built another in 1955.
The river was not impressed. Took that one as well. At some point, you have to stop negotiating with a river and start respecting it.
So they did. In 1957, they completed a new bridge right here — one thousand three hundred and ten feet long, sitting two hundred and seventy-three feet above the river. Two hundred and seventy-three feet.
That is the highest highway bridge in the state of Texas. The Pecos has flooded plenty of times since. But it hasn't reached this one yet.
What the marker says
High canyon walls dominate the last sixty miles of the Pecos River before it enters the Rio Grande. The Southern Pacific Railroad built the first high bridge across the Pecos River in 1891. The first highway bridge to span the river was built one mile down river from here in 1923. Just fifty feet above water, the 1923 bridge was destroyed by floodwaters in 1954. Two temporary low water bridges built nearby in 1954 and 1955 also were destroyed by floodwaters. A new 1,310-feet long bridge was completed here in 1957. At 273 feet above the river, it is the highest highway bridge in Texas. (1995)