Project of the Week: Texas’ Cow Creek Bridge

By Ileana Garnand, Digital Editor

After floods devastated Central Texas, crews began reconstructing the Cow Creek Bridge on Monday.

The Ranch to Market 1431 bridge crossed Cow Creek in North Travis County. The two-lane structure was completely destroyed by flooding on July 5.

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) fast-tracked cleanup and contract bidding, awarding Hunter Industries an emergency contract of $4 million. The state agency hopes to complete the new bridge in 60 days, weather permitting.

Texas’ Cow Creek Bridge Rebuild

The new Cow Creek Bridge will be higher and wider, following modern safety standards. At its highest point, it will be five feet taller than the old bridge.

“We've increased the waterway opening, the hydraulic opening, by about 10%,” TxDOT Austin District Engineer Tucker Ferguson said in a news conference. “This bridge is designed to, and we expect it to, withstand any future rain events (and) flooding events.”

The repair project also includes 12-foot travel lanes, a 2-foot median and 6-foot shoulders.

TxDOT was able to obtain concrete beams from another in-state construction project, which significantly accelerated the rebuild process. Ferguson said acquiring such materials can take up to six months.

Construction of the new Cow Creek Bridge is projected to finish on Sept. 19, although TxDOT is offering the contractor incentives for early completion. Hunter Industries could earn up to $1 million by finishing the bridge up to 20 days early.

"Ideally, we would like to have traffic on the new bridge as close to the start of the new school year as possible," Ferguson said.

A 40-mile detour is in place during construction. A map of the new route can be found here.

Destruction of Texas’ Cow Creek Bridge

The original Cow Creek Bridge was 240-feet and built in 1960.

More than 3,500 vehicles used the east-west route daily. It was the only direct route that connected the cities of Marble Falls and Lago Vista. The bridge also led travelers to and from the Austin metro area.

The Cow Creek Bridge was a “big connector of work and health care,” Travis County Commissioner Ann Howard told KUT. It also linked surrounding residents to a supermarket and Marble Falls Independent School District campuses.

On July 4, historic rainfall caused destructive flooding in the Texas Hill Country. The extreme weather continued for days. At least 135 people were killed and an estimated $18 billion to $22 billion in damages occurred.

The Cow Creek Bridge was one such site of devastation. On the same day the bridge was destroyed, a family’s minivan fell into the creek because of the low visibility.

Malaya Hammond, 17, opened a vehicle door so her parents and two siblings could escape. She was then swept away and drowned, according to a family friend.

“I've driven this bridge more times than I can count,” Malaya’s father Matthew Hammond told People. “And it's always dry. It's a dry creek. So for it to have this volume of water was really shocking.”

Sources: City of Lago Vista, Texas Department of Transportation, KVUE, KUT, NBC 5, Houston Chronicle, People