Carries Pedestrian way Locale Bluff Dale, Texas Width 13 feet (4.0 m) Address Bluff Dale, TX 76433, USA Total length 61 m Location Bluff Dale Material Wrought iron | Crosses Paluxy River Design Cable-stayed Longest span 140 feet (43 m) Opened 1891 Area 4,047 m² Bridge type Cable-stayed bridge | |
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Similar Lane Avenue Bridge, Pomeroy–Mason Bridge, Platte River Bridge, Charles W Dean Bridge, Cochrane–Africatown USA Bridge | ||
The Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge is a historic bridge located near Bluff Dale, Texas, United States. The bridge was built in 1891 and the spans 225 feet (69 m) across the Paluxy River. The road deck is 28 feet (8.5 m) above the river and held in place by fourteen one-inch cables attached to the towers made of nine-inch iron pipe.
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History
The bridge was originally constructed across the river on a dirt road that became Texas state highway 10, which is now U.S. Route 377. In 1933, a new bridge was built to handle the increasing traffic on U.S. 377. The old bridge was relocated in 1934, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) upstream and extended from 200 to 225 feet (61 to 69 m).
The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 20, 1977. The bridge is on Preservation Texas' 2009 list of most endangered places due to its poor condition and lack of funds for restoration. It was closed to vehicular traffic in 1989 because of its advanced state of deterioration.
Structure type
Despite the name given in Historic American Engineering Record documentation, the Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge is actually a cable-stayed structure. Its deck is suspended from multiple layers of stay cables radiating from the towers, some terminating at the deck and others running continuously from one tower to the other. This pattern of cables was established in designer Edwin Elijah Runyon's first U.S. patent, No. 394,940. It is known as one of only two examples of Runyon's patents, along with the Barton Creek Bridge in Huckabay, Texas. Its hand-twisted wire cable and non-traditional use of wrought-iron pipe components make it a notable example of vernacular American bridge construction.