LAVACA BAY · READING THE ROAD
Building the
Lavaca Bay CausewayThe road began on shore.
SH 35 · April 1960
A long road across open water began with concrete forms beside the bay. Follow the shore plant, barges and foundation work behind Port Lavaca’s new crossing.
Explore the storyTHE YARD
Building Lavaca Bay’s roadway sections on shore
The road began beside the water
Long forms lie between the tracks of a gantry crane at the casting yard. The road sections could be made and handled on shore before their trip out to the bridge.
Source: Texas Highways, April 1960. Photographer not identified in the scans.
Selected photographic detail from the opening magazine spread. Magazine source
A 150-ton roadway section was too substantial to treat as an ordinary delivery.
The contractor, Elmer C. Gardner, Inc. of Houston, used a shore plant to cast the roadway units. Girders, deck, curb, sidewalk, parapet walls and part of the median were formed together. The magazine describes the resulting section being placed on the specially built Sea Horse barge, floated between the bridge supports and lowered hydraulically into position. Casting and placement, opening spread
“Each roadway slab weighs 150 tons.”
The photographs make the shore plant’s role clear. Crane tracks ran alongside the forms and continued toward the water. Crews could repeat a casting process in one place, then send its products out to the bridge. Building the road this way required a factory, a transport system and a floating installation crew.
A later engineering study lists Lavaca Bay among examples of prefabricated bridge systems and identifies ease of construction as its advantage. The components were assembled into large units before being taken offshore; the bay still required foundations and piers built in place. Later engineering study
THE PILES
The hidden work beneath Lavaca Bay
The finished road would conceal most of the foundation work shown in these spreads.
The piles were precast, prestressed concrete with an eleven-inch opening through the center. A steel mandrel formed the hole as it moved through the setting concrete. One photograph shows what happened when it moved too slowly: the tool became embedded, requiring the concrete to be broken away. That small failure explains why a repetitive process still needed close attention. Pile-making photographs, second spread
Out on the bay, barges carried cranes and pile-driving equipment. The third spread shows Bridge Engineer Randle B. Alexander watching the work, then examining a diesel hammer. These crews were establishing the supports that would carry the factory-made roadway.
The channel crossing rose higher than the repeated low spans. The magazine specified 45 feet of vertical clearance at the navigation opening. A bridge across a bay had to serve the road without closing the route beneath it.
A hole through a concrete pile
The circular openings show the hollow centers of the precast piles. The magazine describes a moving steel mandrel that formed these holes; it also records a casting failure when the mandrel moved too slowly.
Source: Texas Highways, April 1960. Photographer not identified in the scans.
Selected photographic detail from the second magazine spread. Magazine source
THE NEXT YEAR
From Lavaca Bay construction to the 1961 dedication
The April 1960 report expected completion in summer 1961.
The following year brought a ceremony, an unusual ribbon and a qualified opening announcement. Our Lavaca Bay dedication article follows that next stage, including the approaches that were still unfinished when the August 1961 magazine appeared.
The earlier construction photographs show why the finished causeway deserved more than a length measurement. Every repeated span depended on the same chain of work: cast it, move it, float it and place it. The long line of concrete across the bay began with operations close enough to inspect in these photographs.
ROAD AND RECORD
The work before the ceremony.
Construction begins March 19.
The magazine follows work on shore and in the bay.
The new causeway is dedicated July 1.
Sources: the magazine account and the dedication story.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
Sources & further reading
The new commentary uses all three surviving magazine scans. Selected photographic details support the discussion; the complete original scans remain available here and in the viewer.
- Texas Highways, “Lavaca Bay Causeway,” April 1960. Three spreads; printed folios 4 and 6 are visible in the second and third scans. No article byline or photographer credit is established by these scans. Original scans: opening spread · second spread · third spread.
Return to: the crossing · the yard · the piles · the next year · the road began beside the water · a hole through a concrete pile · the road rises over the channel.
- Bridge Appurtenances, FHWA-NJ-2003-011. N. A. Parker and F. Ansari, July 2003, Appendix B3, printed p. 153 (PDF page 154), Lavaca Bay Causeway entry. Supports the later description of prefabricated components, shore construction and 150-ton sections; used for engineering context rather than the traffic-opening date.
About this article: TexasFreeway presents selected historical images for commentary, analysis and education under fair use. Images remain credited to their respective sources. Their inclusion here does not grant permission for reuse elsewhere.
Online supporting sources checked October 4, 2026. The source issue date describes the historical magazine, not the preparation date of this commentary.
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THE CROSSING
A new SH 35 crossing for Port Lavaca and Point Comfort
The new Lavaca Bay Causeway was taking shape offshore, but much of the road was being made on dry land.
In April 1960, Texas Highways showed the casting yard, barges, cranes and rising piers of a replacement for SH 35’s older bay crossing. The existing causeway connected Port Lavaca and Point Comfort. Built in 1930–31, it had needed rebuilding after a 1942 hurricane and further repairs after another in 1945, according to the magazine. Its maximum axle-load rating was only 15,000 pounds. The construction account
The replacement was being built about 400 feet north of the old road. It would carry four lanes with a raised median, and its higher navigation opening would let boats pass without lifting a drawbridge. More lanes and fewer interruptions addressed different problems: room for road traffic above, passage for water traffic below.
The Lavaca Bay historical photographs show both structures together. The old crossing remained part of the scene while crews built its replacement.
The road rises over the channel
The higher pier line leads toward the navigation opening. Boat clearance shaped the bridge profile: the new road would pass above the channel instead of stopping motorists at a drawbridge.
Source: Texas Highways, April 1960. Photographer not identified in the scans.
Selected photographic detail from the third magazine spread. Magazine source