IF POETS BUILT BRIDGES….

If poets built bridges, perhaps they would all look like this…graceful and elegant with enduring beauty.  This is the most photographed bridge in the world.  [DESIGN NOTE: GOLDEN GATE PIC SHOULD BE NEAR THIS COPY]

As a matter of fact, Joseph Strauss, the Chief Engineer for the Golden Gate Bridge, really was a poet. The class poet (a position that has succumbed to educational trends) for his 1892 class at the University of Cincinnati, he wrote a poem for the 1937 dedication of his masterpiece that reads, in part,

“At last the mighty task is done;

Resplendent in the western sun;

The Bridge looms mountain high

On its broad decks in rightful pride,

The world in swift parade shall ride

Throughout all time to be.”

Many dreary English literature dissertations have been written by students looking for the seeds of greatness in an artist’s early, lesser-known work.  I hope I will be forgiven for applying the same technique to bridges, because one of Joseph Strauss’ early creations is still hidden away under a Houston freeway.

In 1914, Strauss designed and built a railroad bridge over Buffalo Bayou just east of downtown near Nance St.  It is no longer in use, except by homeless people seeking a waterfront residence. However, it does have a certain charm. It has lasted almost 100 years.  Perhaps Buffalo Bayou was not the ideal setting to inspire his artistic nature or maybe he was already dreaming of the bigger things beyond Houston.  But either way, he was in negotiations to build the Golden Gate Bridge by 1919. He was finally hired in 1930.

If you want to walk in Strauss’ footprints, the bridge is accessible from the East End Bike Trail.  There is no evidence that he left any poetry about this bridge, but more recent visitors have made an attempt with yellow spray paint.