{"nrhp_refnum":"96001116","name":"State Highway 29 Bridge at the Colorado River","other_names":["State Highway 29 Bridge at Inks Lake","Bt0150-05-013"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"TX 29 at the Llano Cnty. line","address_restricted":false,"city":"Buchanan Dam","county":"Burnet County","state":"TX","lat":30.748343306000038,"lon":-98.39697775499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-10-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1,379-foot steel Parker through truss highway bridge carrying State Highway 29 over the Colorado River between Buchanan Dam and Inks Lake, on the Burnet and Llano county line in Texas. It was built in 1937 by the Austin Bridge Company for the Texas Highway Department.","why_significant":"The bridge is significant in the area of engineering at the state level because it embodies the defining characteristics of a Texas Highway Department truss bridge. It uses the T24-200 standard design, one of two surviving examples and the better of the two. It also has unusual piers with pointed ends and custom curved-top steel approach railing.","narrative":"Carrying State Highway 29 across the Colorado River between Buchanan Dam and Inks Lake, this 1,379-foot bridge combines four 200-foot steel Parker through truss spans with eleven I-beam approach spans. The Texas Highway Department designed it, the Austin Bridge Company built it in 1937, and Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel fabricated the trusses. It was part of a project to reroute the highway after Buchanan Dam flooded the earlier road and the bridge at Bluffton. The trusses follow the department's T24-200 standard design, one of only two surviving bridges of that type, and this is the better example. Distinctive features include solid concrete piers with pointed ends, a form found on only four surviving Texas highway truss bridges, and approach railings made from modified steel railroad ties with curved tops. The bridge has had no major alterations and remains in use. It was recognized for engineering significance at the state level.","period_of_significance":"1937","architect_builder":"Bridge Designer: Texas Highway Department; Truss Fabricator: Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company of Des Moines, Iowa; Bridge Builder: Austin Bridge Company of Dallas, Texas","architectural_style":"Other: Parker through truss bridge","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still in vehicular use on SH 29; no major alterations have been made, and no projects are currently planned, though its 1996 sufficiency rating of 34.4 made it eligible for replacement funding.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.448981-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/3/9685/40968503/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/96001116.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001116/5a6b406971-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001116/5a6b406971-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_hwy_29_bridge_inks.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_hwy_29_bridge_inks.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40968503","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Highway_29_Bridge_at_the_Colorado_River","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14711336"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/burnet-county/state-highway-29-bridge-at-the-colorado-river-96001116/"}