Brownsville-Matamoros bridge boss ponders span's history as he nears retirement
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- Few have the chance to make a piece of history their life's work. Prax Orive Jr. is one of those fortunate few.
For 40 years, the Brownsville-Matamoros Bridge has been his career. On Wednesday, the president and chief executive officer of the Brownsville-Matamoros Bridge Co. will retire.
Orive's knowledge of the bridge dates back to the 1950s when he started his career with the bridge company, working as assistant general until becoming the company's president and chief executive officer a few years ago.
"This was one of the first international bridges that linked this part of the United States with Mexico," Orive, 68, told The Brownsville Herald for a story in Sunday's editions.
"It was built in 1909, originally for the railroad. Today, we practically have two different spans, one for commercial and one passenger traffic."
Half of the bridge, known in Mexico as El Puente Viejo (The Old Bridge), is owned by the Omaha, Neb.-based Union Pacific Railroad. The other half belongs to the Mexican government.
Orive said the viaduct was equipped with gear to make it swing open to allow boat traffic on the Rio Grande, but that only happened once to satisfy a request from the U.S. Corps of Engineers that the river was navigable.
"This bridge has a lot of history," said the Brownsville native. "There has been all sorts of merchandise and commodities going back and forth on this bridge, including Mexican cotton and steel."
Old photographs on his wall document some of the bridge's history in the faces of those in whose own lives it figured. There are Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa and U.S. Gen. John Pershing, who led an Army expeditionary force in pursuit. There also are Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, Mexican President Venustiano Carranza and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower.
Carranza stopped at the Brownsville-Matamoros Bridge in 1910 when the span was inaugurated as the first bridge joining Brownsville and Matamoros.
The old bridge recently went through an $8 million face lift that included the addition of four lanes, a truck access, and new office buildings on both sides of the Rio Grande.
Before this year, commercial and passenger traffic used the railroad bridge. Traffic had to be stopped up to six times a day to allow trains to cross the international border.
Today, the old span is used exclusively by trains and trucks, while the new lanes are dedicated to non-commercial vehicles. As many as 300 18- wheelers and 9,000 cars use both spans every day.
"The expansion has increased traffic by about 30 percent," Orive said. "Seeing the bridge expanding was my proudest moment as manager of this bridge. I am happy for being able to contribute to my community."