On Sept. 12, more than a foot of rain fell upstream in the Salado Creek watershed. By the next morning, a pile of wood and debris about 50 yards long had backed up against the FM 1915 bridge where it crosses the river in eastern Milam County. Some timbers were the size of telephone poles.

Monday afternoon, contractor Daryl Klepzig said workers had the sticks and limbs and tree trunks cleaned out of the waterway, piled on dry land and were now burning it. Earlier plans called for grinding and mulching the debris, but the contractor changed strategy, got a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and lit the fire Monday.

Klepzig said he used a track hoe with a large claw to reach into the river and extract timber, rocks, muck and junk.

"I don't think anybody's ever dug it out before like this. We got some stuff out of there, an old car - I don't even know what it was, just a frame of something. Yeah, there was a bunch of stuff in there," Klepzig said. "You never know what you find."

This would be the second time the logjam has been burned. On Oct. 3 someone poured flammables over the guardrail and lit the big mess. The fire burned about half of the woodpile, which became so hot authorities had to close the bridge and inspect it for safety.

The bridge is currently open after inspectors approved it. Divers will return shortly to check the bottom of the concrete uprights.

The Texas Department of Transportation paid Klepzig $61,500 to clear the logjam.