AUSTIN (KXAN) – Flooding along the San Gabriel River Saturday morning swept away a historic bridge in Burnet County. Video shared with KXAN shows the Joppa Iron Truss Bridge floating downstream as the river levels rose.
The bridge was built in 1907 and received a Texas Historical Marker in 2017. The bridge was limited to foot traffic only, but had been closed due to structural damage. The video shows water flowing over the County Road 200 bridge, a concrete bridge built next to the old iron bridge to handle vehicle traffic.
The Joppa Community website details the history of the bridge, noting that the iron bridge next to the newer concrete bridge “connect the past and the present.” The website listed the significance of the bridge for the small community, including how volunteers would decorate it with lights for Christmas and how some people were married on the bridge.
The website also tracked progress on a stabilization project for the bridge, with the last update posted in November of 2024.