{"nrhp_refnum":"96001123","name":"State Highway 16 Bridge at the Brazos River","other_names":["State Hwy. 6 Br. at the Brazos R.","Kx0098-05-036"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"TX 6, 6 mi. S of jct. with US 82","address_restricted":false,"city":"Benjamin","county":"Knox County","state":"TX","lat":33.500149419000024,"lon":-99.80186631399994,"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 steel continuous through truss highway bridge carrying State Highway 6 (formerly SH 16) over the Brazos River just south of Benjamin, Knox County, Texas. It was built in 1938-1939 and is 754 feet 9 inches long.","why_significant":"The bridge was custom-designed by Texas Highway Department engineers rather than built to a standard plan. It is one of only seven surviving continuous through truss bridges in Texas and one of five built before World War II. It is the only surviving continuous truss bridge in the state with parallel top and bottom chords, and one of three metal truss bridges with Type P concrete and steel approach railing.","narrative":"Carrying State Highway 6 over the Brazos River just south of Benjamin, this steel through truss bridge was built in 1938 and 1939 to replace an unsafe 1901 county truss bridge. Texas Highway Department engineers custom-designed it with a three-span continuous truss unit of 382 feet 6 inches, flanked by two 96-foot truss spans and steel I-beam approach spans, for a total length of 754 feet 9 inches. Contractor Oran Speer of Alvord built it, and the Virginia Bridge Company fabricated the steel trusses. Construction was complicated when the old bridge's south abutment, founded on sand, collapsed during work, forcing a detour road. The new bridge opened to traffic in January 1939 and cost about $138,000. It is one of only seven continuous through truss bridges surviving in Texas, and the only one with parallel top and bottom chords. It was listed for engineering significance, and it has changed little since 1939.","period_of_significance":"1938-1939","architect_builder":"Bridge Designer: Texas Highway Department; Truss Fabricator: Virginia Bridge Company of Roanoke, Virginia; Bridge Builder: Oran Speer of Alvord, Texas","architectural_style":"Other: continuous through truss bridge","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used for vehicular transportation; the form states it retains substantial integrity and had only minor repairs in 1985.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.866313-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/70/9697/40969770/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/96001123.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001123/c3fda96dfc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001123/c3fda96dfc-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_Highway16_Bridge_at_the_Brazos_River.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_Highway16_Bridge_at_the_Brazos_River.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40969770","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000932"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/knox-county/state-highway-16-bridge-at-the-brazos-river-96001123/"}