{"nrhp_refnum":"10000252","name":"Cow Bayou Swing Bridge","other_names":["SH 73/87 Bridge at Cow Bayou"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"SH 73/87 1.13 mi NE of jct with FM 1442","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bridge City","county":"Orange County","state":"TX","lat":30.048101479000024,"lon":-93.82014769399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-05-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An 806-foot steel I-beam and plate girder center-bearing swing bridge built in 1940 that carries northbound State Highway 87 across Cow Bayou in Bridge City, Orange County, Texas.","why_significant":"The bridge is nominated under Criterion C in the area of Engineering at the state level. It is one of only two remaining center-bearing highway swing bridges in Texas, and its design was modeled on the earlier Deweyville Bridge. It was also the last major construction project on State Highway 87 between Orange and Port Arthur.","narrative":"Completed in 1940, this steel swing bridge carries northbound State Highway 87 over Cow Bayou in Bridge City, Texas. It is 806 feet long, with a 154-foot movable plate girder span that pivots on a central concrete pier supported by 61 timber piles, plus thirteen steel I-beam approach spans and a concrete deck. Texas Highway Department engineers based the design on the Deweyville Bridge over the Sabine River, and the two are the oldest surviving center-bearing swing bridges in the state. An electric motor operates the span, with hand operation as a backup. The bridge closed the last gap on the highway between Orange and Port Arthur after about ten years of lobbying by local citizens. A parallel high-rise bridge was added in 1972 for southbound traffic. Proposals to replace the swing bridge were reconsidered after preservation review and local advocacy, and repairs began in 2008.","period_of_significance":"1940","architect_builder":"Texas State Highway Department, Bridge Department; Resident Engineer: Charles Davidson; Project Engineer: L.V. Norris; Contractor: Jensen Construction Co. Inc.","architectural_style":"OTHER/steel I-beam and steel girder swing bridge","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still carries northbound SH 87 traffic. Rehabilitation work began in 2008 to repair joint binding, and the bridge was saved from a proposed replacement through a Section 106 review.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.826063-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/15/9699/40969915/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/10000252.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40969915","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110002769"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/orange-county/cow-bayou-swing-bridge-10000252/"}