Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
The Bridges of (South) Milam County
Rockdale Reporter - May 26, 2011
TxDoT chooses ‘restore’ option for landmark
It appears the nearly-century-old Worley Bridge will remain serving County Road 428
motorists well into another century.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has chosen an option to restore the now-
closed bridge, rather than build a new one at another location, a choice endorsed
Monday by the Milam County commissioners court.
TxDOT estimated the cost of restoration at $970,000 with the county contributing
$70,000. Cost of converting Worley Bridge to a foot bridge was put at $400,000, not
including the cost of building a new bridge.
Projection is for the bridge to reopen in three years.
South Milam County once had many historic bridges but those have dwindled in recent
decades as the demands of modern transportation have rendered them obsolete.
Two of the surviving structures are pictured here although neither carries vehicular
traffic.
All credit for this article goes to
Mike Brown and the Rockdale Reporter
Photo by Mike Brown/Reporter
The 99-year-old Worley Bridge is nestled in a curve of the San Gabriel River and, here, in the curve of a fallen bottomland giant tree.
Sugarloaf Mountain Bridge on CR 264, under its landmark namesake began as part of a bridge over the Brazos River in 1896. It was moved to its present location in 1940 after the upstream Faubion Bridge fell into the Little River.
Sheckles Bridge over the San Gabriel downstream from Worley Bridge now spans only bull nettles and wild grasses. It was replaced by a modern bridge over CR 429A and moved to an adjacent field.
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