Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge

{{Infobox bridge

|bridge_name = Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge

|image = Bluff Dale Bridge (1 of 1).jpg

|caption = Bluff Dale Bridge, with the modern bridge that has replaced it for vehicle traffic visible at right.

|official_name =

|carries = Pedestrian way on County Road 49 (Berry's Creek Road)

|crosses = Paluxy River

|locale = Berry's Creek Road,
Bluff Dale, Texas

|maint =

|id =

|designer = Edwin Elijah Runyon

|design = Cable-stayed

|material = Wrought iron

|spans = 3

|pierswater = 2

|mainspan = {{Convert|140|ft|m}}

|length = {{Convert|200|ft|m}}

|width = {{Convert|13|ft|m}}

|height =

|load =

|clearance =

|below =

|owner = Erath County

|traffic =

|begin = 1890

|complete = 1890

|open =

|heritage =

|collapsed =

|preceded =

|followed =

|closed =

|toll =

|map_type =

|map_relief =

|map_text =

|map_width =

|coordinates = {{Coord|32|21|14|N|98|1|34|W|display=inline,title}}

|lat =

|long =

|extra =

{{Infobox NRHP

| embed = yes

| name = Bluff Dale Bridge{{efn|The bridge's historic name as listed on the National Register was changed from "Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge" to "Bluff Dale Bridge" on January 19, 2016.{{Citation |last=National Park Service |author-link=National Park Service |title=Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 1/19/16 through 1/22/16 |date=January 29, 2016 |url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/20160129.htm |access-date=January 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128223008/http://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/20160129.htm |archive-date=January 28, 2016}}.}}

| nrhp_type =

| image =

| caption =

| locmapin = Texas#USA

| map_label = Bluff Dale Bridge

| locmap_relief = yes

| area = {{convert|1|acre}}

| added = December 20, 1977

| refnum = 77001440{{NRISref|version=2010a}}

| designated_other1=TSAL

| designated_other1_date=May 28, 1981

| designated_other1_number=[http://atlas.thc.texas.gov/Details/8200000250 8200000250]

| designated_other1_num_position=bottom

}}

The Bluff Dale Bridge is a historic cable-stayed bridge (not a suspension bridge) located near Bluff Dale, Texas, United States. Built in 1891, the bridge spans {{convert|225|ft|m}} across the Paluxy River. The road deck is {{Convert|28|ft|m}} above the river and held in place by fourteen {{Convert|1|in|cm|adj=mid|-diameter}} cables attached to the towers made of {{Convert|9|in|cm|adj=mid|-diameter}} iron pipe.

History

The bridge was originally constructed across the river on a dirt road that became Texas State Highway 10, which is now U.S. Route 377. In 1933, a new bridge was built to handle the increasing traffic on U.S. 377. The old bridge was relocated {{Convert|1.5|mi|km}} upstream in 1934 and extended from {{Convert|200|to|225|ft|m}}.{{Cite web |url=http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/viewform.asp?atlas_num=2077001440&site_name=Bluff+Dale+Suspension+Bridge&class=2001 |title=Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge |work=Texas Historic Sites Atlas |access-date=August 26, 2009}}

The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 20, 1977. The bridge is on Preservation Texas' 2009 list of most endangered places due to its poor condition and lack of funds for restoration. It was closed to vehicular traffic in 1989 because of its advanced state of deterioration.{{Cite web |url=http://preservationtexas.org/endangered/2009.htm |title=Preservation Texas: Most Endangered Places 2009 |access-date=2009-05-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305062347/http://preservationtexas.org/endangered/2009.htm |archive-date=2009-03-05}}

Structure type

Despite the name given in Historic American Engineering Record documentation, the Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge is actually a cable-stayed structure.{{Cite web |url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/tx/tx0700/tx0762/data/tx0762data.pdf |title=Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge |last=Brown |first=Mark M. |date=August 1996 |website=Historic American Engineering Record |publisher=Library of Congress |location=Washington, D.C. |page=7 |access-date=2018-10-05}} Its deck is suspended from multiple layers of stay cables radiating from the towers, some terminating at the deck and others running continuously from one tower to the other. This pattern of cables was established in designer Edwin Elijah Runyon's first U.S. patent, {{Patent|US|394,940}}.{{Cite news |last1=Buonopane |first1=Stephen G. |last2=Brown |first2=Mark M. |title=History and Engineering Analysis of the 1890 Cable-Stayed Bluff Dale Bridge |work=Proceedings of the First International Congress on Construction History |location=Madrid |publisher=Instituto Juan de Herrera |date=2003 |pages=433–442}} It is known as one of only two examples of Runyon's patents, along with the Barton Creek Bridge in Huckabay, Texas. Its hand-twisted wire cable and non-traditional use of wrought-iron pipe components make it a notable example of vernacular American bridge construction.

Notes

References

External links

{{HAER |survey=TX-36 |id=tx0762 |title=Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge, Spanning Paluxy River at County Route 149, Bluff Dale, Erath County, TX |photos=14 |dwgs=5 |data=27 |cap=2}}

{{Crossings navbox

|structure = Bridges

|place = Paluxy River

|bridge = Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge

|bridge signs =

|upstream = Unnamed bridge

|upstream signs =

|downstream = Berry's Creek Road Bridge

|downstream signs =

}}

Category:Bridges completed in 1890

Category:Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas