HAYS COUNTY, Texas -- Flood waters washed away or damaged many bridges crossing the Blanco River over the weekend. A KVUE Defenders investigation discovered most are not state owned and operated.
Quickly rising flood waters toppled the Fischer Store Road Bridge Saturday night and damaged many others crossing the Blanco River. It's now a town attraction for all the wrong reasons.
"It's unbelievable. People need to stand here to understand," said Linda Brannen from Hays County.
Bridge experts say water pressure played a role, but is not the main cause.
"A lot of it is possibly the debris, the homes that were washed out and were hitting the structure," said Greg Malatek, Austin's district engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation.
Malatek said the Fischer bridge isn't owned by the Texas Department of Transportation, but by Hays County.
Bridges built with federal or state financial help are typically held to the same safety standard.
"For every road that's ours and even on a county road, there are different hydraulic requirements," Malatek said.
The Fischer bridge is considered an "off-system bridge." According to TxDOT, there are 18,164 off-system bridges in the state. All are typically inspected every two years. Most are funded with local and state tax dollars, but maintained by the local municipalities.
TXDOT said it's unclear how much it will cost to rebuild Fischer Bridge, but it could happen in less than nine months.
"That's very quick, but that's probably a worse-case scenario," said Malatek.
See all off-system bridges in Texas:
