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The Montopolis Bridge is a historic
Parker Parker may refer to: Persons * Parker (given name) * Parker (surname) Places Place names in the United States *Parker, Arizona *Parker, Colorado * Parker, Florida * Parker, Idaho * Parker, Kansas * Parker, Missouri * Parker, North Carolina *Park ...
through
truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...
in Austin,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. It is located in the Montopolis neighborhood where a bicycle and pedestrian walkway crosses the
Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...
in southeastern
Travis County Travis County is located in south central Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Austin, the capital of Texas. The county was established in 1840 and is n ...
. The bridge consists of five 200-foot Parker through truss spans and four 52-foot steel I-beam approach spans resting on reinforced concrete
abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...
s. It 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 October 10, 1996.


History

On June 15, 1935, the city of Austin suffered a devastating flood along the Colorado River. The original Montopolis bridge, built by Travis County in the late 1880s, was one of five bridges washed away by the flood. The
Texas Highway Department The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway sys ...
designed the current bridge and requested federal emergency relief funds from the
Bureau of Public Roads The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...
to rebuild it. Work on the bridge began on February 15, 1937. The bridge was completed on February 11, 1938, by Vincennes Steel Corporation under contract to the Highway Department at a cost of nearly $232,000 (). The Montopolis Bridge remained in use until 2018 and, as one of the principal routes to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport from
Downtown Austin Downtown Austin is the central business district of Austin, Texas. Downtown is located on the north bank of the Colorado River. The approximate borders of Downtown include Lamar Boulevard to the west, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and the U ...
, was fairly busy. The southbound frontage of U.S. 183, Airport Boulevard and East 7th Street all merge at the north side of the bridge. In 2006, 29,200 vehicles crossed on average each day. The bridge was decommissioned for vehicular traffic on October 8, 2018, and was subsequently converted to a bicycle and pedestrian bridge as part of the Bergstrom Expressway Project. Montopolis Bridge May 2020.jpg, Deck during conversion to pedestrian use in 2020 Austin Skyline from Montopolis Bridge.jpg, Austin skyline from the bridge Colorado river montopolis.jpg, The Colorado River in the Montopolis area


See also

* List of crossings of the Colorado River *
National Register of Historic Places listings in Travis County, Texas __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Travis County, Texas. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Travis County, Texas, Uni ...
*
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 ...


References


External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas Bridges in Austin, Texas Pedestrian bridges in Texas Cyclist bridges in the United States Bridges completed in 1938 National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas Bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Bridges over the Colorado River (Texas) Steel bridges in the United States Parker truss bridges in the United States 1938 establishments in Texas U.S. Route 183