McKee Street Bridge
historic place
The McKee Street Bridge, a historic landmark in Houston's Harris County, spans Buffalo Bayou. This reinforced concrete girder bridge was built in 1932. It replaced an earlier steel swing bridge from 1908. City bridge engineer Joseph Gordon McKenzie designed the McKee Street Bridge. His innovative design featured a continuous curved chord through girder. The bridge's concrete girders were uniquely shaped to follow the calculated bending moment curve, creating an undulating, wave-like appearance. This allowed for a 120-foot central span, the longest of any concrete girder bridge at that time. The design also met federal requirements for vertical and horizontal clearance for bayou traffic. Constructed by Don Hall Constructors, Inc., the bridge cost around $122,000. Its unique engineering garnered national attention. The McKee Street Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. It stands as a significant example of early 20th-century bridge engineering in Texas.