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The
bridge over
the Neches
River
connecting
Port Arthur
and Orange
County was
dedicated on
September 8,
1938, as the
Port
Arthur-Orange
Bridge and
replaced the
Dryden Ferry
as a part of
the
"Hug-the-Coast
Highway" on
State Highway
87. As a
result of a
contest in
1957 it became
known as the
"Rainbow
Bridge." Ferry
service had
proved
unreliable,
and on
November 30,
1934, after a
seven-year
campaign,
Governor
Miriam A.
Fergusonqv
signed the
bill
permitting
Jefferson
County to
participate in
the cost of
the structure.
The bridge was
financed by
the county,
state, and
federal
governments
under the
Public Works
Administration
at a cost of
$2,750,000.
Before the
bridge was
built a
dispute over
it arose
between Port
Arthur and
Beaumont. From
the point of
view from
Beaumont,
which had its
dock upstream,
the proposed
bridge would
be a menace to
navigation,
would be
little used,
and would cost
the county too
much money.
Beaumont
citizens
argued that a
ferry or a
drawbridge
would suffice.
Port Arthur
citizens
argued that
the bridge
would allow
motor traffic
to operate
uninhibited at
all times. The
two factions
sent
delegations to
Austin to
argue their
respective
cases before
the State
Highway
Commission,
but they
finally
reached an
agreement by
October 1934.
Beaumont
representatives
offered to end
the
controversy if
the Port
Arthur faction
would approve
a vertical
clearance of
185 feet for
the bridge.
The matter
ended with a
compromise of
176 feet. The
bridge was
built with a
vertical
clearance of
176+ feet, a
main span of
680 feet
between main
piers, and 600
feet between
fenders. The
clearance was
to allow the
tallest ship
afloat at the
time (the Navy
dirigible
tender USS
Patoka)
to pass. This
made the
bridge the
most elevated
highway bridge
over tidal
waters in the
world and the
largest bridge
built by the
Texas Highway
Department.
The cantilever
bridge was
designed to
withstand the
force of a
130-mile
hurricane wind
and a wind
pressure of
seventy-five
pounds per
square foot. A
special
driving rig
was designed.
The eight
pairs of
reinforced
concrete piers
were to extend
from
ninety-five
feet to 102
feet below the
surface of the
water and rise
eleven feet to
twenty feet
above. The
sixty-eight
smaller piers
were to be
supported to
an average
depth of
seventy-five
feet. The
total length
of the bridge
and approaches
would be 7,752
feet. The
roadway was to
be 252 feet
wide between
railings and
222 feet wide
between curbs,
providing an
eighteen-inch
walkway. The
incline of the
bridge was to
be 5 percent,
a rise
vertically
five feet for
each 100 feet
of climb. The
project plans
revealed there
are 1,428 feet
of cantilever
spans, 1,200
feet of
continuous
truss spans,
2,560 feet of
deck truss
spans, 1,802
feet of deck
girder spans,
and 762 feet
of concrete
girder spans.
Construction
began in May
1936 and was
completed in
September
1938. In 1988
construction
began on a new
multilane
bridge, the
Veterans'
Memorial
Bridge, which
ran parallel
to the old
Rainbow
Bridge. It was
completed in
1991. In 1993
the Rainbow
Bridge began
renovations to
bring the
roadway to
federal
standards; in
1995
construction
was still
underway. The
rehabilitated
Rainbow Bridge
was to provide
two lanes for
southbound
traffic.
Northbound
traffic was to
use the
Veterans'
Memorial
Bridge,
dedicated on
September 8,
1990. The navy
tender never
traveled the
Neches River,
and no other
ship has ever
come close to
hitting the
bottom of the
bridge.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Lorecia East,
History
and Progress
of Jefferson
County
(Dallas:
Royal, 1961).
Texas
Highways,
November 1988.
Ben Woodhead,
Beaumont
at Large
(1968). WPA
Federal
Writers'
Project,
Port
Arthur
(Houston:
Anson Jones
Press, 1940).
Mildred
S. Wright
-
Handbook of
Texas Online,
s.v. ","
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/RR/err3.html (accessed
March 3,
2008).
(NOTE: "s.v."
stands for sub
verbo, "under
the word.")
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