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Texas
| Architecture
| Bridges
LIFESPAN OF
A SPAN
Smithville’s
(2nd) Colorado River Bridge
1915-1950
Smithville,
Texas
Photos
and Captions Courtesy of the Smithville Historical Society
From Arcadia Publishing's Images of America Series: Smithville, Texas
Book Hotel Here › Smithville
Hotels |
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Ay,
tear her iron girders down!
Long have they spanned the river,
Generations have picnicked beneath her shade
And heard her shake and quiver.
She served Smithville
for nearly two score years,
Over waters warm and frigid,
We can only hope that her concrete niece
Will prove to be as rigid.
(With apologies
to Oliver Wendell Holmes)
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| This March 16,
1915, bridge construction photograph exhibits the latest in bridge-building
technique. This replacement for the [first
Colorado River Bridge c. 1900] destroyed in the 1913 flood carefully
cantilevers across the Colorado River, spanning north from the town
side. A similar segment of the bridge approaches from the opposite
riverbank to ultimately link at mid-span. |
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Civilians Cross
the Colorado River on the Army's Pontoon Bridge
The damaged bridge is visible in the upper right hand corner.
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| “In the mid 1940s,
having survived the 1935 flood, the river bridge was forced to be
temporarily closed as a result of a structural impairment caused by
a military bulldozer being transported across it. Since there was
no other bridge between La
Grange and Bastrop,
the Army Corps of Engineers quickly assembled a floating pontoon bridge
just upstream to handle the vehicular traffic. Townsfolk held picnics
and watched the construction from the riverbank.” |
Impeccable timing:
The Colorado River Bridge at the moment of demolition |
| “By September
8, 1950, the 1915 Colorado River overhead box girder bridge had fulfilled
its intended purpose. Capturing another moment of the city’s history,
Fred Moree, Smithville’s
noted photographer, caught the center span of the bridge in a midair
free fall after demolition charges were detonated to bring down the
obsolete and damaged structure.” |
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