Montopolis Bridge
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The Montopolis Bridge is a historic
Parker Parker may refer to: People * Parker (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Parker (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Arts and entertainment * ''Parke ...
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 Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
. It is located in the Montopolis neighborhood where a bicycle and pedestrian walkway crosses the
Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...
in southeastern
Travis County Travis County is located in 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 and most populous city is Austin, the state's capital. The county was established i ...
. 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 that 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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on October 10, 1996. The Montopolis Bridge sits at the best crossing of the Colorado River in the area with the historic crossing of the
El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...
just to the east.


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 Texas state government agency responsible for construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system and the support of the state's maritime, aviation, rail, and public trans ...
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, United States. The area of the district is bound by Lamar Boulevard to the west, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Austin), Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the north, Inte ...
, 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, ...
*
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 Bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas, Lists of bridges on the National Regi ...


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