Pecos River High Bridge

The Pecos River High Bridge carries the Union Pacific Railroad across the Pecos River gorge and is the second high-level crossing on this site.

Pecos River High Bridge
Pecos River High Bridge, late 1990s
Coordinates29°45′24″N 101°21′25″W
CarriesUnion Pacific Railroad
CrossesPecos River
LocaleLangtry, Texas
Characteristics
DesignDeck truss
MaterialSteel
Longest span374.5 feet (114.1 m)
No. of spans7
Piers in water2
History
DesignerModjeski and Masters
Constructed byBrown and Root, substructure; Bethlehem Steel Company, superstructure
Construction start1943
Construction end1944

History
Pecos Viaduct, 1892
Southern Pacific Railroad train on bridge, 1951

The first Pecos River Bridge, designed by SP chief engineer Julius Kruttschnitt, was built by the Phoenix Bridge Company and completed in 1892. After strengthening and reinforcement in 1910 and again in 1929 which almost doubled its weight, it remained in place until 1949, five years after its replacement. The second Pecos River High Bridge, was completed by the Southern Pacific Railroad on December 8, 1944.[1]

The current Pecos River High Bridge is a steel deck truss bridge on slip-formed concrete piers, ranging in height up to 275 feet (84 m). It was designed by Modjeski and Masters of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with foundations constructed by Brown and Root of Houston and trusses fabricated by Bethlehem Steel Company of Chicago. Because of material rationing during World War II, War Production Board approval was required before proceeding with fabrication.[2]

Route

In addition to freight trains of the Union Pacific (which merged with the Southern Pacific in 1996), this bridge carries Amtrak's Sunset Limited between its stations in Sanderson and Del Rio.

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See also

References
  1. Baker, T. Lindsay (1986). Building the Lone Star State: An Illustrated Guide to Historic Sites. College Station: Texas A&M University Press. p. 124.
  2. Spivey, Justin M. (October 1998). "Southern Pacific Railroad, Pecos River Bridge" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 7. Retrieved March 3, 2018.

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