Details for Bunton Branch Bridge

Historical Marker — Atlas Number 5507017342

Data

Marker Number 17342
Atlas Number 5507017342
Marker Title Bunton Branch Bridge
Index Entry Bunton Branch Bridge
Address Kyle Crossing
City Kyle
County Hays
UTM Zone 14
UTM Easting 610076
UTM Northing 3321390
Subject Codes bridges; design and construction; transportation
Marker Year 2012
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark Yes
Marker Location Kyle Crossing, W side, 0.2 mi. NE of Old Bridge Trail. Bridge is 150 feet SW of the marker. Marker reported damaged Oct. 2022. Replacement in progress.
Private Property No
Marker Condition Replacement In Progress
Marker Size 27" x 42"
Marker Text Bridge No. 44, now known as the Bunton Branch Bridge, is located just north of Kyle on a north-south section of road that parallels Interstate 35, a remnant of the 1915 Austin-San Antonio post road. The bridge crosses Bunton Branch, an intermittent tributary of Plum Creek that runs in a southeast direction across Hays and Caldwell Counties. The creek has its headwaters east of Mountain City in Hays County and was named after the family of a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, Col. John W. Bunton. The 42-foot long concrete structure was built in 1915 by J.N. George & Sons Construction Company as part of the first federal aid highway projects in Texas. The bridge is composed of a single closed-spandrel arch forty feet in length supported by reinforced concrete abutments. The bridge’s deck, measuring 20 feet in width, is composed of concrete and carries one-lane traffic over an 18-foot wide roadway. Out of thirty-five bridges built within a distance spanning 78 miles, the Bunton Branch Bridge is the only known reinforced concrete arch bridge as part of this project. The improvements made to the Austin-San Antonio Road (later state highway 2) and the construction of bridges like this one resulted in a wave of travel and tourism for central Texas. By the 1920s, State Highway 2 was one of the heaviest traveled roads in the state. In the 1930s, the state highway department changed the alignment of the highway, abandoning the section of old post road over Bunton Branch Bridge. Today, this historic bridge is one of the few tangible links to this historic highway in Hays County. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2012

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