- City:
- Graford, TX
- Site Type:
- Infrastructure and Utilities, Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Description
The 18-span stone arch bridge, just below the Morris Shepherd dam on Lake Possum Kingdom, is the longest and most substantial masonry arch bridge in Texas. The design was chosen to withstand flood waters released from the dam a mile above the bridge. It is built from over 7,200 cubic yards of locally quarried limestone. The bridge was built by 74 skilled workers and 250 unskilled workers. Many of the stonemasons were former coal miners. Cushman said, “designers juxtaposed an ancient engineering design with a modern concrete dam to create one of the state’s greatest achievements in landscape construction.” The total length of the bridge is 433 feet and 4 inches. The piers are founded on bedrock and are 3 feet wide, with the exception of piers 7 and 13, which are “bracing piers” and extend up to 5 feet.
Source notes
Historic American Engineering Record, 1996, Estella M. Chung; G. T. Cushman in Michael Conan's (ed.) Environmentalism in Landscape Architecture. https://bridgehunter.com/tx/palo-pinto/possum-kingdom/Site originally submitted by Susan Allen on January 24, 2013.
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I Love this road! The Views are fantastic. The drive is very nice. I have been down it all my life, I did not know the bridge had a name. I am glad to know It is the Possum Kingdom Stone Bridge. This is one of my favorite ways to go to P.K. Lake or come home. I hope you will give this drive a chance. It is well worth the drive.
Happy trails to you.