Brazos River Bridge
Benjamin, Knox County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1938-39 to replace a deteriorating 1901 span, this bridge carries a state highway across the Brazos River south of Benjamin, linking the Knox County seat to points beyond. Texas highway engineers gave it a special continuous-truss design—one of only five such bridges built in Texas before World War II—fabricated by the Virginia Bridge Company. Construction was complicated when a pier of the old bridge upstream subsided, forcing a detour, but the new crossing opened to traffic in January 1939.
Why it matters
The bridge reflects the ambitious highway-building of the New Deal era that knit rural Texas together, and stands as a rare survivor of pre-war engineering now on the National Register.
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Related people
- · Oran Speer
Related events
- · National Register listing, 1996
Themes & tags
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