Rio Felix Bridge

The bridge carries its own record, cast on a plate bolted to one of its truss posts. The plate names it the Felix River Bridge, a federal-aid project, built by the Boardman Company of Oklahoma City and rated for a safe load of two fifteen-ton trucks, with Jas. A. French signing as state highway engineer. The skew the panel describes sets the three spans across the channel at nearly forty-five degrees, so floodwater meets them at a slant. Since the 1984 bypass the steel trusses have stood beside the newer road, the plate still on them when photographed.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Rio Felix Bridge Completed in 1926, the Rio Felix Bridge was one of the most important structures in New Mexico's highway system. The bridge was placed across the river at nearly a 45-degree angle to increase stability during floods. Constructed with three 144-foot Pratt Truss spans, it is the longest bridge of its type in New Mexico. Bypassed in 1984, the bridge is listed in the National Register of Historic Places for its design, enhancing local farming and tourism at Carlsbad Caverns.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bottomless Lakes State Park — 13 mi
  Nine sinkhole lakes under red bluffs east of Roswell, named by vaqueros whose ropes never touched bottom, and set aside in 1933 as New Mexico's first state park.
• International UFO Museum and Research Center — 21 mi
  A 1930s movie theater on Roswell's Main Street turned into a museum by two men who had been part of the 1947 story, one of them the officer who announced the flying disc.

More markers nearby

• Blackdom Townsite — 6.6 mi
• Roswell Prisoner of War Camp — 11 mi
• Civilian Conservation Corps — 12 mi
• Walker Air Force Base — 17 mi