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Aerial
view of the two bridges - Highway 19 bridge under construction
Photo courtesy Trinity County Historical Society |
The
Trinity River Railroad Swing Bridge -
Built by
the Wisconson Bridge and Iron Co., North Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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The
bridge was originally constructed to allow steamboat and barge traffic
to pass, but it's been some time since a barge has passed and even
longer since steamboats have been seen on the Trinity.
The first railroad bridge had been constructed in the early 1870s
when the Houston and Great Northern railroad came through the area.
The bridge featured here was constructed by the International and
Great Northern Railway and was actually built in Wisconson and shipped
to Texas where it was erected on site in 1916. The length of the bridge
is 294 feet and when the trestles and approaches are included, the
length reaches nearly 3,000 feet. The swing mechanism revolves around
a massive pin embedded in cement and (in theory) it can be turned
manually.
In its long history, the bridge has only been "swung" open on two
occassions. Once being a flood in the mid 20s when it was opened to
prevent driftwood and sawyers from piling up against it. |
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>A rare photo of the railroad swing bridge open
Photo courtesy Trinity County Historical Society |
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Trinity
River Railroad Swing Bridge
Photo by John Troesser, May 2004 |
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Another view of the Trinity River Railraod swing bridge
Photo by John Troesser, May 2004 |
Texas has two other swing bridges. One across the Brazos
River in Brazoria
County and one
over the Rio Grande connecting Brownsville
with Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Detailed information about the railroad bridge can be found in T.
Lindsay Baker's Building the Lone Star, Texas A & M Press, 1986 |
| Bridges:
The Spans of North America |
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| Building
the Lone Star: An Illustrated Guide to Historic Sites |
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| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and vintage or recent photos, please contact
us. |
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