Telephone Road Bridge over Brays Bayou

The 1931 Telephone Road Bridge over Brays Bayou in Houston, Texas is significant for its unique design and balustrade urn railing. The bridge's design elements were influenced by the City-Beautiful movement, as were many of the bridges designed during this time by city bridge engineer J.G. McKenzie. It is one of a handful of remaining intact examples of bayou crossings constructed in Houston as part of a 1930s street improvement bond issue. This bridge retains integrity of design, materials, workmanship, location, setting, feeling, and association and is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C in the area of engineering at the state level of significance.

The City-Beautiful Movement and Houston Bayou Bridges'

The Beaux-Arts axial landscape of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago was a catalyst for the City Beautiful Movement, urban planning that included boulevards, classical-inspired architecture, and public monuments. During the City-Beautiful Movement in the first part of the 20th century, local governments across the United States began conscious efforts to improve the aesthetic features of their cities. This movement coincided with rapid growth in Texas, and several cities in the state began their own beautification programs. In 1912, the City of Houston passed a $250,000 bond issue to acquire land and improve its park system. The Houston Park Commission then hired landscape architect and city planner Arthur C. Comey to develop a master plan for the city. Comey's plan, like many being produced at the time, featured a system of parkways and boulevards to link the central city with growing suburbs. Parkways were planned along Buffalo and White Oak bayous, and Comey recommended that the necessary bridges be built of concrete, in the simplest form of construction.

Several concrete bridges were constructed in the 1920s under Comey's plan, and many employed a type of construction that was increasing in popularity, the reinforced concrete girder. Early concrete girder bridges were constructed with steel wide-flange beams encased in concrete, but engineers soon learned that only parts of the beam were absorbing stress and that a series of smaller metal rods could achieve the same effect. Concrete girder bridge construction was used increasingly in the expansion of the Texas state highway system after the organization of the State Highway Department in 1917, reaching the height of its popularity in the 1930s. The 1924 Sabine Street Bridge over Buffalo Bayou included six spans of continuous reinforced concrete girders supported on concrete bents. Curved concrete fascia walls were used to give the appearance of an arch.

Houston's parkway boulevard and street extension plan continued into the early 1930s. City bridge engineer J. G. McKenzie continued to design bridges with a similar aesthetic, using a simple concrete girder structure and an urn-style balustrade. McKenzie streamlined the bridges' form and ornamentation, reflecting more general trends in bridge design. The Almeda Road and Telephone Road bridges over Bray's Bayou and the Yale Street Bridge over White Oak Bayou were all built in 1931, and together they illustrate McKenzie's simplified version of City-Beautiful design.

Based on a search of the Texas Historic Bridge Inventory, maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation, there are eleven extant historic bridges in Texas with a Neoclassical urn balustrade railing. These include three other Houston Bridges: the Almeda Road Bridge over Brays Bayou, the Sabine Street Bridge over Buffalo Bayou, and the Yale Street Bridge over White Oak Bayou. Of the other seven bridges, one is in New Braunfels (Landa Street over Dry Comal Creek), two are in San Antonio, and four are in Dallas. The dates of construction for these bridges ranged from 1914 to 1931, placing them all in the City Beautiful movement. As it was designed and built by the State Highway Department (Landa Street is Business 46), the urn balustrade on the Landa Street Bridge in New Braunfels is actually a standard highway-rail design (Type J). Although this may give the impression that urn balustrades are not uncommon, Landa Street Bridge has the only documented Type J railing in the State of Texas. Out of these eleven bridges, only the four bridges in Houston are of concrete girder construction, Landa Street Bridge is constructed of steel I-beams encased in concrete, and the rest are closed spandrel arch bridges.

Telephone Road Bridge over Brays Bayou

The Telephone Road Bridge exists at one of the oldest crossings in Harris County, used by planters in the Clear Creek area and Sims Bayou to travel to Houston for trade. This bridge was constructed in 1931 for the City of Houston and replaced an earlier timber bridge that was frequently threatened by flooding and was at a dangerous curve on Telephone Road; the 1931 bridge was placed on a new alignment to address the safety issue caused by the curve. Telephone Road remained a major travel route between Houston and its eastern suburbs, as well as to the Galveston and LaPorte Roads, until the construction of Highway 45 in the 1950s.

The bridge was designed by city bridge engineer J.G. McKenzie and constructed by contractor B.P. Panas & Company in 1931 for approximately $42,000, as part of a 1930 City of Houston bond issue. The construction of the Telephone Road Bridge was part of the final phase of Houston's parkway plan and is a typical example of McKenzie's use of a reinforced concrete girder and urn balustrade design, streamlined to reflect changes in bridge design. As part of the City Beautiful aesthetic, McKenzie designed the girders with a shallow curve to soften the lines of the reinforced concrete girder bridge and also designed battered bents.

The Telephone Road Bridge at Brays Bayou was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C at the state level of significance during a 1999 survey of non-truss historic bridges in Texas conducted by the Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Historical Commission. Reinforced concrete girder bridges are considered historically significant if they retain integrity and feature decorative design." This bridge is a typical example of a reinforced concrete girder bridge constructed in the early twentieth century, and as a representative of the City Beautiful movement, features neoclassical elements such as an urn balustrade, battered bents, and other decorative features. Although records indicate that the bridge has been impacted by pier protection activities and other projects, it is largely unaltered and retains its urn balustrade bridge railing and other details that contribute to its significance for engineering and as an example of bridges constructed during the City Beautiful movement in Houston. It is a significant example of its type in the state, as it is one of only eleven Texas bridges with an urn balustrade railing. In addition, as a concrete girder bridge, it is a representative later example of the type; earlier City Beautiful bridges with urn balustrade railings in Texas were closed-spandrel arch bridges.