Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge
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The Bluff Dale Bridge is a historic
cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...
(not a suspension bridge) located near
Bluff Dale, Texas Bluff Dale is an unincorporated community in Erath County, Texas, United States. The Bluff Dale Independent School District serves area students. Bluff Dale, Texas is on U.S. Highway 377 and the North Paluxy River in northeastern Erath Count ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Built in
1891 Events January–March * January 1 ** Paying of old age pensions begins in Germany. ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. ** Germany takes formal possession of its new Af ...
, the bridge spans across the Paluxy River. The road deck is above the river and held in place by fourteen cables attached to the towers made of
iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...
pipe Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ...
.


History

The bridge was originally constructed across the river on a dirt road that became Texas State Highway 10, which is now U.S. Route 377. In 1933, a new bridge was built to handle the increasing traffic on U.S. 377. The old bridge was relocated upstream in 1934 and extended from . The bridge was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
on December 20, 1977. The bridge is on Preservation Texas' 2009 list of most endangered places due to its poor condition and lack of funds for restoration. It was closed to vehicular traffic in 1989 because of its advanced state of deterioration.


Structure type

Despite the name given in
Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...
documentation, the Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge is actually a
cable-stayed A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...
structure. Its deck is suspended from multiple layers of stay cables radiating from the towers, some terminating at the deck and others running continuously from one tower to the other. This pattern of cables was established in designer Edwin Elijah Runyon's first U.S. patent, . It is known as one of only two examples of Runyon's patents, along with the Barton Creek Bridge in Huckabay, Texas. Its hand-twisted wire cable and non-traditional use of wrought-iron pipe components make it a notable example of vernacular American bridge construction.


See also

*
List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Texas __NOTOC__ This is a list of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in the U.S. state of Texas. Bridges Notes References {{HAER list, structure=bridge *List *List Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Te ...
*
List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas This is a list of bridges currently on the National Register of Historic Places in the U.S. state of Texas. References {{NRHP bridges Texas Bridges Bridges A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Erath County, Texas This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Erath County, Texas. This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Erath County, Texas. There are o ...


Notes


References


External links

* {{Erath County, Texas Bridges completed in 1890 Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Cable-stayed bridges in the United States Buildings and structures in Erath County, Texas Pedestrian bridges in Texas Former road bridges in the United States Historic American Engineering Record in Texas Relocated buildings and structures in Texas National Register of Historic Places in Erath County, Texas Wrought iron bridges in the United States 1890 establishments in Texas