Pecos River High Bridge
Del Rio, Val Verde County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Where the Pecos River runs its last sixty miles through deep canyons before joining the Rio Grande, engineers have long struggled to bridge it. The Southern Pacific built the first high railroad span here in 1891, and the first highway bridge followed in 1923 — only to be swept away, like its temporary successors, by floodwaters in the 1950s. The current bridge, completed in 1957 and towering 273 feet above the water, is the highest highway bridge in Texas.
Why it matters
The repeated bridging of the Pecos is a study in engineering ambition against a punishing landscape, marking how transportation conquered one of the West's most formidable natural barriers.
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