National Register Listing

US 190 Bridge at the Neches River

a.k.a. JP0213-08-074

US 190 at the Jasper and Tyler Cnty. line, Jasper, TX

The US 190 Bridge at the Neches River was constructed from 1940 to 1943. As a custom-designed truss bridge employing an I-beam cantilever unit, the bridge is significant under Criterion C for "employing technically complex, advanced or innovative designs or construction methods." The bridge's camelback through truss span, as well as the cantilever unit, are unusual features and make the bridge additionally significant for rarity. As such, the bridge meets National Register Criterion C in the area of Engineering at a state level of significance.

The Neches River bridge was built on US 190, the former State Highway (SH) 45. SH 45, also known as the East and West Texas Highway, linked Newton, Jasper, Woodville, Livingston, Huntsville, and Bryan. By 1937, the route was designated SH 45/US 190, and by 1942 the original SH 45 designation had been dropped.

THD built the Neches River bridge as part of a continuing effort to complete US 190 (formerly SH 45) for service between Central Texas and Louisiana. Related THD projects covered grading and drainage structures for a relocated portion of US 190 between Woodville, Tyler County, and a point in Jasper County 1.6 miles east of the county line. From 1939 to 1942, two separate projects covered the construction of one relief structure on the west side of the truss bridge and two relief structures on its east side. The Neches River bridge replaced the Town Bluff Toll Ferry, one of the last remaining toll ferries in the state. Throughout the 1930s, THD made eliminating toll ferries, either by eliminating the toll or replacing them with bridges, a high priority. The 1937 Burr's Ferry Bridge on SH 45 at the Louisiana state line was an earlier THD effort to eliminate toll ferries along the route (refer to the nomination of Burr's Ferry Bridge, NW0214-04-005, NRHP 1995). The US 190 Bridge at the Neches River was the last of three bridges built to replace ferries on the Neches.

In April 1939 and again in July 1940, THD conducted site inspections with engineers from the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR). After the second inspection, engineers from both agencies agreed to change the truss lengths called for in the preliminary design. By replacing the two 190-foot spans with a 240-foot and 125-foot truss span, they could avoid positioning a pier in the center of the river and thereby allow a greater clear waterway opening. The relative ease of constructing piers closer to the river banks would partially offset the increased material costs. To provide greater vertical clearance above the high-water level, THD engineers designed a three-span I-beam cantilever unit. Such units employ relatively shallow I-beam members so that the level of "low steel" is as high as possible above the water. In addition, solid piers with "lenticular nosing" (pointed ends) were used to help avoid drift accumulation. Only four examples of truss bridges using this pier type survive in Texas. Because test holes revealed that sand was present for 90 feet below grade, the engineers designed steel piling foundations for the caisson piers supporting the truss spans and for the concrete bents supporting the approach spans.

The bridge design also called for two 11⁄2-foot sidewalks and a 24-foot roadway. This width corresponded to the roadway width of drainage structures being constructed on adjacent sections of US 190. BPR initially suggested that, because of the relative difficulty of widening a truss bridge, the Neches River bridge should have a 26-foot roadway width. However, THD engineers decided not to increase the roadway width.

Rather than use a standard design, THD bridge engineers specially designed the bridge's two riveted truss spans. Nine other Parker truss bridges specially designed by THD survive today. The bridge's 30 approach spans provide a lengthy approach of 1,230 feet, one of the longest series of approach spans for a truss bridge in Texas. Other unusual features include the cantilever unit with a suspended span and the camelback through truss span. The Neches River bridge is the only documented Texas highway truss bridge incorporating a concrete cantilever unit. It is also the last surviving camelback-through truss span designed by the Texas Highway Department and one of only seven structures with camelback-through spans remaining in the state.

By the summer of 1940, related projects for roadway grading and relief structures on sections of US 190 adjacent to the bridge were well underway. In his September 11 letter to State Highway Engineer D.C. Greer, the district engineer in Beaumont urged that bridge plans be expedited:
<blockquote class="blockquote">We are very anxious to secure information as to the status of the plans for the bridge over the Neches River on U.S. Highway 190 between Woodville and Jasper. The [roadway] approaches to the river bottom in Jasper and Tyler Counties are very near completion... Our investment in these two approaches, including the road from Woodville to the river, now approximates $452,000.00, but this work will be of negative value to the traveling public until the river bridge is built. We anticipate that we will have considerable criticism if the bridge is not placed under construction immediately...

It is the desire and recommendation of this office that these plans be completed and the contract let [awarded] at the earliest possible date. Will you please inform us when the bridge plans will be completed?</blockquote>

During the fall of 1940, THD engineers completed plans for the bridge and submitted them to the Public Roads Administration (PRA), which had by this time superseded BPR. On December 2, 1940, PRA authorized the plans, specifications, and estimate (PS&E) for the bridge. The project agreement included a provision whereby THD would be required to surface the roadway at a future date. PRA allotted the project $265,000 from the 1941 Regular Federal Aid Program.

The Texas Highway Commission opened bids on December 20, 1940. In addition to the bridge project, the contract included two small projects for 0.3 miles of roadway grading immediately adjacent to the bridge. After reviewing the six bids received, the commission awarded the contract to the low bidder, the Gaylord Construction Company of Houston. The bid of just under $240,000 was substantially under THD's preliminary estimate of $262,350. The Virginia Bridge Company of Roanoke was subcontracted to fabricate the steel truss spans.
Construction began on February 1, 1941. The THD resident engineer in Beaumont supervised the construction which engineers from THD and BPR periodically inspected.

The Neches River bridge was planned and constructed in the shadow of World War II. The October 1940 Texas Parade reported:
<blockquote class="blockquote">"Every resource is being strained to bring into being, arm, equip and train the largest peacetime army in the history of the United States. Industry is bringing to bear all its inventive genius and organizing ability to produce the thousands of things that are essential to a well-equipped army. Steel mills are working overtime to produce the metal needed by the armories for forging the guns, both large and small, needed by the expanded army.</blockquote>

Materials shortages affected the construction of the Neches River bridge, as evidenced in the January 30, 1941, letter from the Virginia Bridge Company to Greer:
<blockquote class="blockquote">We have been favored by the Gaylord Construction Company with their order for the structural steel for the two truss spans only, for the Neches River bridge between Jasper and Tyler Counties, consisting of 1-125' and 1-240' truss spans. Due to the present condition of the rolling mills, we wish to order the mill material immediately from the design drawings. We know of course, that the specifications say that we do this at our own risk pending approval of shop detail drawings, but if no major changes are contemplated in these two spans, we think it advisable for all concerned to place our mill order now.</blockquote>

In 1941, PRA began implementing federal mandates to conserve construction materials and prioritize projects concerning their contribution to national defense. The February 1942 issue of Texas Parade reported that "to save critical materials needed in defense, the Highway Department has abandoned placement of bronze identification plates on bridges and major drainage structures." August 8, 1942, Bridge Construction Inspection Report noted that a field change had been executed to eliminate name plates on the Neches River bridge.

The Neches River bridge was completed on February 6, 1943, at a cost of just over $275,000, including the 0.3 miles of approach roadway grading. The bridge dedication was held on February 12, 1943. The invitation read:
<blockquote class="blockquote">
The third and Final Bridge (sic) on the old State Highway 45 that extended from Burr's Ferry on the Sabine River to Roan's Prairie in Grimes County has been completed. Most of this route is now U.S. 190.</blockquote>

Due to the necessity of devoting our time and energies to War Work, it is not deemed proper or fitting to stage an elaborate celebration at this time, but we do want our friends along this highway to meet and say "HOWDY" to each other and express our appreciation to those who have rendered such splendid service in the completion of this program.

The invitation went on to list the relevant transportation officials and the Highway 45 Association directors.

From 1947 to 1951, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed the Town Bluff Dam four miles downstream from the bridge. The impounded river formed the B.A. Steinhagen Lake. With only minor improvements to the bridge's approach roadway embankments, the bridge continued in service over the lake in combination with the two relief structures built from 1940 to 1941 under a separate contract.

Local significance of the structure:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1996.