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Plans would make over long-used bridge
Published June 21, 2006
BRAZORIA — The city’s “Bridge that Goes to Nowhere” will be replaced, but it still isn’t going anywhere.
The great steel trusses on the Brazos River Bridge going into Brazoria are rusting, and its narrow lanes deliver a bumpy ride. Most importantly, the bridge no longer meets state safety standards, said Larry Heckathorn, area engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation, meaning it has to be replaced.
The transportation department plans to construct a 4,000-foot-long, 70-foot-high bridge between the current bridge and a parallel railroad bridge beginning sometime in mid- to late 2007, Heckathorn said.
But the current bridge, which has welcomed those traveling to Brazoria for more than 60 years, hasn’t reached the end of the road.
“Because the current bridge is historic, the city is going to take the bridge over as a hike and bike trail,” Heckathorn said.
Brazoria Mayor Ken Corely said the bridge, opened in 1939, will be stripped, repainted and completely refurbished before it is turned into a trail at state expense.
“It was an option to tear the bridge down, but it would take just as much money to do that as it would to refurbish it,” Corely said. “That bridge has been traveled by many people for years. I don’t want to tear it down to preserve their memory.”
Walking over the structure — dubbed the “Bridge that Goes to Nowhere” because it was built without solid embankments or ramps to the structure — will make it easier to read a small historical marker attached to the bridge that gives a brief history of Brazoria and tells the bridge’s dimensions.
“This 1,124-foot bridge has three Parker through truss spans,” the sign reads. “An important example of its style, this Brazoria bridge is a significant part of Brazoria County history.”
For former Brazoria County Judge John Damon, his recollection of the bridge began with sitting in a swing on the lawn of the Brigance Ranch in Brazoria. Damon was 7 years old when he overheard his father and County Commissioner W.H. Brigance discussing the possibility of a new bridge.
“To make an impression on a fidgety 7-year-old boy that wanted to go out and shoot his B.B. gun shows the historical value right there,” Damon said with a laugh.
The bridge opened up the area west of the Brazos River to receive new development during a time when a lack of transportation across the river inhibited residents who were freshly recovering from the Great Depression. Before the bridge, residents had to travel all the way through West Columbia to get to Angleton.
A wood-decked bridge built in 1912 that originally linked eastern and western Brazoria County fell victim to a lack of maintenance and the elements, the historical marker states.
“The old bridge fell around 1935, and we went several years without a bridge,” said Russell “Doc” Stanger, 83, a life-long resident of Brazoria. “You couldn’t get to Brazoria except by rowboat. Then in 1939, the bridge was finished, and it made life easier.”
In the waning years of the Great Depression, Brigance led a campaign to convince residents who lived in the north part of the county that a bridge in the southeast was important enough to raise taxes. On Oct. 11, 1937, Brazoria County Commissioner’s Court set a Nov. 20 election for a $300,000 bond that would pay for construction, commissioner’s court meeting minutes state. The election was delayed until Sept. 28, 1938, when the bonds were approved by a vote of 1,266 to 302.
“The north end of the county could see no benefit,” Damon said. “It was a real battle. There were committees appointed to go to the north end to try and sell the idea of building a bridge to nowhere to them. Now, the ratio of profit when compared to original cost shows that the bridge was one of the most profitable investments for Brazoria.”
Damon said 18,000 people crossed the bridge every day during the construction of the South Texas Nuclear Plant near Bay City almost 20 years ago.
“It looked like a hurricane route coming in and out through Brazoria to Bay City,” Damon said. “That bridge has probably repaid taxpayers 1,000-fold for the cost.”
Upon completion of the new bridge, the “Bridge that Goes to Nowhere” will give residents a place for reflection, Damon said.
“You will be able to walk out onto the bridge, stand there, look out onto the water and the sky and just daydream,” Damon said. “This bridge has been such a great asset.”
Bridget Brown is a reporter for The Facts. Contact her at (979) 237-0149.
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