Montopolis Bridge | |
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![]() Viewed from the north in 2013 | |
Coordinates | 30°14′44″N97°41′29″W / 30.24542°N 97.69136°W |
Carries | Bicycle and pedestrian crossing (formerly ![]() |
Crosses | Colorado River |
Locale | Austin, Texas |
Owner | State of Texas |
ID number | 142270026501034 |
Characteristics | |
Design | Parker through truss |
Material | Steel |
Total length | 1,221 feet (372 m) |
Width | 24 feet (7.3 m) |
Longest span | 200 feet (61 m) |
No. of spans | 9 |
Clearance above | 19 feet (5.8 m) |
No. of lanes | 2 |
History | |
Designer | Texas Highway Department |
Constructed by | Vincennes Steel Corporation |
Construction start | February 15, 1937 |
Construction cost | $232,000 |
Opened | February 11, 1938 |
Montopolis Bridge | |
Coordinates | 30°14′44″N97°41′29″W / 30.24556°N 97.69139°W |
Area | less than 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
MPS | Historic Bridges of Texas MPS |
NRHP reference No. | 96001118 [1] |
Added to NRHP | October 10, 1996 |
The Montopolis Bridge is a historic Parker through truss bridge in Austin, Texas. It is located in the Montopolis neighborhood where a bicycle and pedestrian walkway crosses the Colorado River in southeastern Travis County. The bridge consists of five 200-foot Parker through truss spans and four 52-foot steel I-beam approach spans resting on reinforced concrete abutments. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 10, 1996. [2]
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 designed the current bridge and requested federal emergency relief funds from the Bureau of Public Roads to rebuild it. [3] 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 (equivalent to $4,820,000in 2022). [4]
The Montopolis Bridge remained in use until 2018 and, as one of the principal routes to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport from Downtown Austin, 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, [5] and was subsequently converted to a bicycle and pedestrian bridge as part of the Bergstrom Expressway Project. [6]
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Travis County has had two locations named Montopolis. The first was during the Republic of Texas period north of the Colorado River. The second is today's Montopolis neighborhood in Austin, Texas south of the river. Located southeast of the city's urban core, today's neighborhood is in ZIP code 78741. Montopolis is bounded by Lake Lady Bird on the north, by Grove Street and the Pleasant Valley neighborhood on the west, to the south by Texas State Highway 71, and by U.S. Route 183 on the east. The southeast corner abuts Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Montopolis is in City Council District 3.
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