Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge

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The Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge, or simply the B&M International Bridge, is one of three international bridges located in the city of Brownsville, Texas, USA. It links the city of Brownsville with Matamoros, Mexico. It is also the only International Bridge owned by the City of Browsville, as the other international bridges in the city are owned and operated by Cameron County. It is called the old bridge because the adjacent international railway bridge is the city's oldest international bridge. Prior to the building of a new adjacent auto bridge, the old railway bridge also served automobile traffic.

[edit] International Railway

The original bridge previously served both automobile and train traffic. However, this became a hassle whenever a train needed to cross over internationally since all automobile traffic had to come to a halt on both the US and Mexican border since the bridge was designed at a length that barely fit two lanes of traffic, let alone one train. The old bridge today serves primarily for railway traffic, though it was also used for truck traffic before the opening of the Veteran's International Bridge in East Brownsville.

[edit] Newer Bridge

In partnership with Mexico, the City of Brownsville built a newer bridge adjacent to the old railway bridge in the 1990s. It was made of concrete, as opposed to the metal design of the older bridge, and consisted of four lanes with a concrete divider in the center as well as a separate pedestrian sidewalk.