TxDOT reopened the FM 1915 bridge at the Little River crossing four miles south of Buckholts at 6 p.m. Monday after closing the route Sunday until bridge inspectors from Bryan and Austin could assess structural damage caused by a pre-dawn dead-timber inferno discovered Saturday morning.
Bryan District bridge inspector Kayvon Jahedkar and Austin bridge division engineers visited the site Monday and declared that the fire caused minor damage and "is not our major concern at this time," Bob Colwell, Bryan District public information officer, said.
TxDOT divers readjusted the burned-out section of logjam from the bridge piers. After re-opening the bridge to traffic, TxDOT is expected to impose load restrictions from the current 80,000 pounds and monitor the structure.
Whether the intentionally set bridge fire was premeditated vandalism or the act of someone intending to be a Good Samaritan, it hampered progress in clearing away the logjam.
"We are in the process of taking care of the logjam," Colwell said. "This put us further behind."
Heavy rains last month poured water and debris into the river channel, building a logjam against bridge pilings to the extent that longtime residents described the mess as 10 times worse than any blockage in Little River recorded history, Colwell said. Under normal conditions, logjams are flushed naturally out of bridge work about every two years by the flow of water, but this huge clogged drain was too massive for a swift current to work its magic.
TxDOT was in the process of contracting with a San Antonio company, which was planning to visit the site and make a clean-up assessment and cost estimate, but the logjam fire delayed progress, Colwell said. No date was given when logjam clearing would begin.
Constructed in 1972, the 285-foot-by-28-foot Little River Bridge at the FM 1915 river crossing was made with pre-stressed concrete beams with concrete columns and piers.
The arsonist apparently stood at the west side bridge railing, poured a flammable liquid on the logjam 15 feet below the bridge, and lit the fire, Buckholts Fire Chief Robert Rodriguez said. The bridge-side brush fire was called into police agencies by a passing motorist at 6:45 a.m. Saturday. The fire burned probably two hours before the fire department was alerted, Rodriguez said. Only dry timber situated atop the huge logjam burned, but the heat was so intense that asphalt on the bridge decking bubbled, and firefighters believed the heat altered the bridge shape, Rodriguez said.
Milam County Sheriff's Department Investigator Chris White said no collectible evidence was recovered at the fire scene, except a newly tossed beer can, which will be fingerprinted.
The logjam fire is being investigated as arson because such wood piles jammed in a flowing channel "don't catch fire on their own," White said. "There was no report by TxDOT that they would be trying to burn the logjam away. Somebody took upon themselves to light the logs on fire."
Because the fire scarred a bridge, a crime was committed, White said.
"If they had burned this logjam and it just burned without doing damage to anything, there probably wouldn't have been a problem, but because it did create damage to the structure, you could say a person is reckless in his action," White said.
Neither the state fire marshal's office nor the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is investigating the fire.
Anyone with information on the logjam fire is asked to call Milam County Investigators White or J. Beathard, or Milam County Crime Stoppers at 254-697-TIPS.
