Port Arthur-Orange Bridge - Port Arthur-Orange, TX - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The Port Arthur-Orange Bridge is a monumental Cantilever truss bridge crossing the Neches River, which serves as a navigation channel for ports in Beaumont and Port Arthur. The bridge links Port Arthur in Jefferson County with Orange, the Orange County seat.

The Port Arthur-Orange Bridge provides an unprecedented vertical clearance of 177 feet and a horizontal clearance of 600 feet. At 7,752 feet, the bridge is completely symmetrical on each side of the center of the river. It comprises 63 spans, including continuous deck girder and prestressed concrete beam approach spans, deck truss spans, continuous through truss spans and a three-span cantilever truss unit. Steel triangular towers serve as piers capable of transferring wind loads to the foundation. Steel bents with V-shaped bracing supported on concrete pedestals support the deck girder spans; the remaining approach spans rest on concrete bents.

George Wickline of the Texas Highway Department's Bridge Division produced the preliminary design and oversaw the bridge's construction while on leave from his regular duties as State Bridge Engineer. The Texas Highway Department (THD) contracted the consulting firm of Ash-Howard-Needles & Tammen to finalize construction plans for bidding.