Houston Street Viaduct, Historic viaduct and tram bridge in Dallas, United States.
The Houston Street Viaduct is a concrete bridge spanning the Trinity River in Dallas, carrying vehicle lanes and leading pedestrians across the water. The structure has a plain industrial form with multiple supporting pillars beneath it.
After a major Trinity River flood in 1908 devastated the area, residents decided to build a new bridge to better connect the city's neighborhoods. The work was completed in 1911 with techniques that allowed the structure to withstand future flooding.
The viaduct takes its name from Houston Street, the downtown street it carries across the Trinity River between Arlington Street and Lancaster Avenue, joining Downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff. Its 1911 opening gave Oak Cliff a fixed road link to the city core after the 1908 flood had swept away the earlier crossings.
The viaduct runs along Houston Street roughly between Arlington Street and Lancaster Avenue, linking downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff. Walkers use the deck alongside vehicle lanes; the railing of short vertical posts and the projecting brackets over the arches are visible from the crossing. Bare ground and the Trinity River lie below the arches.
The 1908 flood that destroyed Oak Cliff's earlier crossings led Dallas County voters to approve a $600,000 bond in 1909 for this replacement. The viaduct was designed by Ira G. Hedrick with the firm Hedrick & Cochrane, and the National Register lists 1910 and 1911 as its significant years.
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