Pecos River Bridge
Coordinates: 29 ° 42 ′ 32 " N , 101 ° 21 ′ 6" W.
| Pecos River Bridge | ||
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 The road leading down to the previous bridge can be seen on the left edge of the picture. |
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| use |
 Road bridge
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| Crossing of | Pecos River | |
| construction | Truss bridge | |
| overall length | 399 m | |
| Longest span | 126 m | |
| height | 83.2 m | |
| completion | 1957 | |
| location | ||
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The Pecos River Bridge (also Pecos River US 90 Bridge ) is a road bridge that spans US Highway 90 over the Pecos River in Val Verde County in Texas , USA . It stands about 2 km above the confluence of the Pecos River into the Rio Grande , visible from the bridge , which forms the border with Mexico here. The Pecos River High Bridge, which is 6.5 km upstream behind a bend in the river, is not visible.
The two-lane bridge, which opened in 1957 and has a total length of 399 m (1310 ft ), consists of a long steel lattice girder resting on two 80 m high concrete pillars and a short girder bridge that connects to the road at the western end. The main opening has a span of 126 m. The bridge is located in the area of the reservoir of the Amistad Dam , 40 km away as the crow flies , its height above the river bed at 83.2 m (273 ft) is therefore not recognizable due to the fluctuating water level. Regardless, it is the tallest road bridge in Texas.
history
In 1883, the Southern Pacific railway company combined its route on the Pecos River from San Francisco via Los Angeles, Yuma, Tucson and El Paso with the route built in the opposite direction from Houston . At that time there was no need for a road in the sparsely populated area. It was not until 1922 that unpaved roads, used almost exclusively by carts, were built over the steep banks down to the river and connected there with a double-arched truss bridge over the Pecos River.
On June 26, 1954, Hurricane Alice caused such a flood that the bridge and its central pillar, which was otherwise 15 m above normal water level, were torn away. Two temporary bridges were also washed away a little later.
Web links
- Historic US90 - Pecos River Crossing with plenty of photos, on TexasFreeway.com
