The UPRR Railroad Bridge was originally built ca 1907 by the St. Louis, Brownsville, and Mexico Railway Company. It's a center-pivot swing bridge, theoretically capable of pivoting to allow river traffic to pass, although it has not been opened for several years.
The SLBMRW merged with the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company in 1956, which in turn merged with the Union Pacific in 1997. The railroad operates today as the Union Pacific, which still uses the bridge for revenue traffic. A dozen trains a day pass across it, most of which are drawn by UPRR locomotives, although BNSF and KSC locomotives are sometimes seen.
The bridge carries the UPRR over the Brazos River near Brazoria, Texas. Heading north it passes Angleton yard, Danbury, and Liverpool, thence intersects the BNSF Railway Galveston subdivision in a large wye at Algoa Junction.
Heading south it passes through Brazoria, Sweeny, Abercrombie, Bay City, Blessing,Refugio, and numerous other communities before reaching Harlingen and Brownsville. A branch line at Abercrombie junction provides service to the Phillips 66 refinery northwest of City of Sweeny. At Brownsville it crosses the Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge into Mexico.
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| UPRR Railroad Bridge as seen from the Brazoria Bridge about 2006, before construction of the new Brazoria Bridge. |
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| Satellite image of the Brazoria Bridge (left) and UPRR railroad bridge (right), before construction of the new Brazoria Bridge. The shadows of the three Parker Trusses of the Brazoria Bridge are clearly visible in this image. Click image for current map. Source: Wikimapia. |
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| Northeast approach as seen from the north |
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| Northeast approach as seen from the southeast |
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 Northeast approach as seen from the southeast |
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| Southwest approach as seen from the southeast. |
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| Southwest approach as seen from the southeast. Composite photo |