Colorado River Bridge at Bastrop

The Colorado River Bridge in Bastrop, completed in 1923, is the second bridge crossing at this location and perpetuates a historic route through Texas which has been critical to Bastrop's development since the beginning of the 19th century. The structure is also an important surviving example of the work of the early Texas State Highway Department during a time when the automobile was emerging as the dominant mode of transportation. The bridge meets National Register Criterion A, significant in the area of Transportation, as a link in the historic route of the Camino Real on which Bastrop was settled and, in this century, as a critical highway link between Houston and Austin. It meets Criterion C in the area of Engineering, as a major bridge embodying the design and construction technology of the early period of highway construction in Texas.

It is believed that the Camino Real, the road established under Spanish rule linking San Antonio with the missions of east Texas, forded the Colorado river in the vicinity of the present bridge. Bastrop grew from a colony established by Stephen F. Austin in 1827 as a way station at this important river crossing of the Camino Real. Later known as the Old San Antonio Road, the route remained one of the main arteries between east and west Texas through the 19th century and was the route generally taken by early Anglo-American settlers into Texas. (The 1978 Multiple Resource nomination "Historic Resources of Bastrop" provides more information on the history of Bastrop's settlement and development.) Although the river could be forded at low water, a ferry service was established here once settlement and use of the road warranted it, at least by 1866. The first bridge at the crossing was built in 1890 by a company of private investors as a toll bridge. It was an iron cantilever truss type with a wood deck and was later sold to the county and became a part of its public road system.

After World War I automobiles became an increasingly dominant form of transportation in Texas, as throughout the United States. In 1917 there were about 200,000 automobiles in Texas and motor transport provided a means for the delivery of mail and the movement of agricultural goods within rural areas. Reflecting this trend, the construction of railroads in the state leveled off and began to decline after the 1920s. During this period Bastrop looked increasingly to Austin as a market center and was becoming a popular recreational destination for regional "motoring" tourists. The Colorado River crossing at Bastrop was also on the most direct route between Houston and Austin. The traffic along then State Highway 3-A justified a modern bridge structure to replace the iron and wood bridge of 1890.

By this time both the federal and state government were involved in road construction. The importance of a network of farm-to-market roads was recognized by the federal government as early as the 1890s with the establishment of the Bureau of Public Roads as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Although federal aid to local governments for road construction began at that time, it was formalized in 1916 with the Federal Aid Road Act which focused on the creation of major thoroughfares within the states. The Texas State Highway Department was created in 1917 as required by the Act to manage the disbursement of federal funds and oversee the construction of roads by county governments. The Colorado River Bridge is a product of the early partnership between the State Highway Department, the federal government (through the Bureau of Public Roads in the Agriculture Department,) and the county governments for road construction. Under the operating system in effect in 1921, the county commissioners employed a county engineer to handle the construction and maintenance of the road system under the oversight of the State Highway Commission. A county could apply for up to 25% financial assistance on a project by the State and 50% from the Federal government.

Bastrop County raised its share of the construction cost of the Colorado River Bridge, originally estimated to be $40,000, through the issuance of road bonds in 1921. Bids on the project were solicited and the Kansas City Bridge Co. was selected as the contractor. Although the resident engineer on the project was R.E. Schiller, the bridge design reflects the influence of G.G. Wickline, State Bridge Engineer from 1918 until the 1940s, and is one of the earliest uses of the Parker truss surviving in Texas. The Parker was the truss design of choice from the 1920s into the 1940s because its efficiency of design allowed for a longer span with greater strength while using less steel, thus cutting down on the weight and the cost of the bridge. According to a 1923 article in Texas Highway Bulletin, the bridge was built to state specifications to withstand a load of a 15-ton truck or a live load of 64 pounds per square foot on the trusses.

Construction took about a year and a half, with problems encountered in driving the pilings for the pier foundations to firm strata beneath the river bed. The final cost of the bridge's construction was $167,500. The bridge was opened to use in January 1924 and was lighted at night by electricity from the town of Bastrop.

The bridge probably fell into the State's hands during the Depression when the inability of local governments to maintain roads led to their wholesale transfer to state governments (aided by federal dollars) around the country. A 1936 map produced by the Bureau of Public Roads shows three routes to coincide at this crossing of Colorado: Highway 71, Highway 290, and the old San Antonio Road (Highway 21). Since then Highway 290 has been rerouted about 15 miles to the north of Bastrop and Highway 71 passes just south of the town. The bridge now serves Loop 150 providing access to downtown Bastrop off of Highway 71. The original town of Bastrop sits on the east side of the Colorado River with the business district paralleling the river along its eastern bluff. From Highway 71 to the southwest, the modern motorist receives a dramatic entrance to Bastrop crossing the Colorado River Bridge over a heavily wooded river valley which opens up quite suddenly into the historic business district.