MXUS; Across and back at Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras

The MXUS Boundary

Across and Back At Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras
August 11, 2007

The scene is near the end of US 57 (Garrison Street) in downtown Eagle Pass, Texas, USA. The right lane turns onto SPUR 240 (Commercial Street). The two left lanes go forward through toll booths and onto the international bridge. The black redaction to the left hides part of the customs shed of the US Border Station for inbound traffic.

Lane 1 through the toll booths (for traffic turning right from Commercial Street) is currently blocked by orange cones, and a bridge employee is removing the cones blocking lane 3. The toll booth for pedestrians is between lane 1 and the green-roofed building, which is a duty-free shop.

These are the signs to the left of the toll lanes. Such large "WARNING" signs are erected by the State of Texas at each of its international border crossings in an effort to keep its well-armed citizens out of Mexican prisons. They mark the frontier between a gun culture and a knife culture. State maintenance ends because the American section of the bridge belongs to the City of Eagle Pass. (The State of Texas owns only one highway bridge to Mexico--the one at Presidio. American segments of all others are either city, county, federal, or private.) The blue signs warn travelers that they must pay Texas state taxes on any alcohol brought back from Mexico. (There is a state tax booth for alcohol and tobacco after US Customs when returning.)

This is the city's schedule of bridge tolls for vehicles. The toll for pedestrians is $.25. The first road bridge here was built in 1927. The city purchased its American section from the private owner in 1947 and replaced it with the current bridge in 1954. Trucks must use a much newer bridge downstream.

As I took the previous photo, I heard a US Customs agent somewhere within the shed across the street to the left shouting, "Sir, sir, you can't take pictures!" I wondered why not, since I was on a public sidewalk and was not on the Border Station property, but I replied, "Okay, thank you." Still he literally ran within the shed to get immediately across the street from me and continued to shout, "Sir, sir, you can't take pictures of the international bridge or of the traffic backed up on it." I replied, "Okay! I won't take any more," and added in my mind, "...on this side of the boundary, anyway!" He seemed satisfied.

I really fail to see the point. A US Government aerial photo of the bridge and its environs is available on line, and the city has a photo of the toll booths on its web site . In the motion picture Lone Star, scenes filmed on this bridge show Actor Chris Cooper driving a car across it and actor Richard Coca passing through the pedestrian toll booth.

The bridge is 1,855 feet long, of which about 85 percent is American. Just inches within Mexico, I took this photo of the boundary monument across the two traffic lanes on the USA-bound (downstream) side of the bridge. Barely seen in the background is the new six-lane flat concrete road bridge with a steel-truss railway bridge beyond.

The Mexican part of the bridge belongs to Caminos y Puentes Federales de Ingresos y Servicios Conexos (CAPUFE)--the Mexican federal toll road and bridge authority. CAPUFE has installed canopies over the pedestrian walkways of its international bridges. You can see that both the canopy and the yellow barrier end. The two men standing just inside Mexico are distributing printed advertising to the backed-up traffic.

I have leaned out over the barrier to take this photo past the canopy near the Mexican end of the bridge. USA-bound traffic is backed up from US Customs.

Welcome to Piedras Negras, Coahuila, arguably the prettiest Mexican city on the Border. Use lane 1 if you have something to declare, 2 or 3 if you don't, and 4 if you're a bus.

Here is more evidence of having crossed from a gun culture to a knife culture.

"Do not bring to Mexico plagues and sicknesses. Avoid infractions and mishaps. Declare: vegetables; dairy; plants; animals; birds; meats."

While those with something to declare are directed into the shed at the left, others aren't. The white sign tells them that they are in the United Mexican States, as they head onto Calle Abasolo.

At about this point, my cell phone received a text message. It was from Sprint, telling me how to dial phone calls in Mexico. Apparently, Sprint knows more about who crosses the border than does either government!

This is a typical Mexican customs enforcement vehicle. It's a Dodge Ram Quad Cab pickup, built at Encantada in another part of this same state of Coahuila.

The Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe looms over the plaza just past Mexican customs. Note the gargoyles on the unusual lamp post.

I head back toward the USA. The green overhead sign announces the Mexican toll booths ahead, but the traffic is backed up onto Calle Matamoros from US Customs beyond the bridge. The logo on the sign is that of CAPUFE. Note the pretty little park to the right.

The upper blue sign seems to say that tolls can be paid in currency [of either nation], by swiping plastic, with vehicle transponder tags, or by waving a card with a chip. On the green sign, CAPUFE wishes travelers to Eagle Pass, Texas, a "happy trip."

I have paid CAPUFE my pedestrian toll with $.30 in American coins deposited into a turnstile, and I stop for this view of the turbulent river before entering the bridge canopy. The other end of the bridge is at the line of bluffs beyond the Eagle Pass city golf course, which occupies the wide floodplain on the American side.

The 1970 MXUS treaty says that the boundary is at (and moves with) the middle of the river, but that on bridges it remains fixed at the monument. Thus, there is vertical differentiation of sovereignty at most MXUS bridges.

This view looks downstream through the chain-link screen on CAPUFE's canopy a few feet from the monument, which is directly over the US bank of the river due to the river's movement since the 1927 bridge was built.

Americans call this the "Rio Grande." Mexicans call it the "Río Bravo del Norte." You can see how close the bluffs are to the river on the Mexican side.

This is the boundary monument on the Mexico-bound (upstream)side of the bridge. The three plaques on the right memorialize friendship between the City of Eagle Pass and the Municipio de Piedras Negras under three different sets of politicians in each. Just above the horizon behind the monuments can be seen a power line through which Eagle Pass imports some of its electricity from Mexico.

The structural joint seems to have confused CAPUFE when it installed the yellow barrier, but the boundary monument and the raised markers on the pavement, both installed by the International Boundary and Water Commission, are official.

As I was taking this photo, I suddenly heard what sounded like a loud, fast-moving airplane under the bridge! I quickly turned around and took the next photo.

From Mexican sovereignty on the bridge, looking through CAPUFE's chain-link canopy screen, we see a speeding airboat of the US Border Patrol on the American half of the river. It has just passed below but not through Mexican sovereignty. These boats patrol the river to combat illegal immigration and drug smuggling, mostly done at night, and to rescue illegal crossers drowning in the turbulent water.

I'm bank in the USA. As I had been told, I took no photos on the American section of the bridge. When I entered the US Border Station, there was a small poster prohibiting photography within. It did not mention the bridge.

Elsewhere in Eagle Pass, this billboard encourages people to communicate with the US Border Patrol by telephone.

	The scene is near the end of US 57 (Garrison Street) in downtown Eagle Pass, Texas, USA. The right lane turns onto SPUR 240 (Commercial Street). The two left lanes go forward through toll booths and onto the international bridge. The black redaction to the left hides part of the customs shed of the US Border Station for inbound traffic.
	Lane 1 through the toll booths (for traffic turning right from Commercial Street) is currently blocked by orange cones, and a bridge employee is removing the cones blocking lane 3. The toll booth for pedestrians is between lane 1 and the green-roofed building, which is a duty-free shop.
	These are the signs to the left of the toll lanes. Such large "WARNING" signs are erected by the State of Texas at each of its international border crossings in an effort to keep its well-armed citizens out of Mexican prisons. They mark the frontier between a gun culture and a knife culture. State maintenance ends because the American section of the bridge belongs to the City of Eagle Pass. (The State of Texas owns only one highway bridge to Mexico--the one at Presidio. American segments of all others are either city, county, federal, or private.) The blue signs warn travelers that they must pay Texas state taxes on any alcohol brought back from Mexico. (There is a state tax booth for alcohol and tobacco after US Customs when returning.)
	This is the city's schedule of bridge tolls for vehicles. The toll for pedestrians is $.25. The first road bridge here was built in 1927. The city purchased its American section from the private owner in 1947 and replaced it with the current bridge in 1954. Trucks must use a much newer bridge downstream.
	As I took the previous photo, I heard a US Customs agent somewhere within the shed across the street to the left shouting, "Sir, sir, you can't take pictures!" I wondered why not, since I was on a public sidewalk and was not on the Border Station property, but I replied, "Okay, thank you." Still he literally ran within the shed to get immediately across the street from me and continued to shout, "Sir, sir, you can't take pictures of the international bridge or of the traffic backed up on it." I replied, "Okay! I won't take any more," and added in my mind, "...on this side of the boundary, anyway!" He seemed satisfied. I really fail to see the point. A US Government aerial photo of the bridge and its environs is available on line, and the city has a photo of the toll booths on its web site . In the motion picture Lone Star, scenes filmed on this bridge show Actor Chris Cooper driving a car across it and actor Richard Coca passing through the pedestrian toll booth.

The bridge is 1,855 feet long, of which about 85 percent is American. Just inches within Mexico, I took this photo of the boundary monument across the two traffic lanes on the USA-bound (downstream) side of the bridge. Barely seen in the background is the new six-lane flat concrete road bridge with a steel-truss railway bridge beyond.
The Mexican part of the bridge belongs to Caminos y Puentes Federales de Ingresos y Servicios Conexos (CAPUFE)--the Mexican federal toll road and bridge authority. CAPUFE has installed canopies over the pedestrian walkways of its international bridges. You can see that both the canopy and the yellow barrier end. The two men standing just inside Mexico are distributing printed advertising to the backed-up traffic.
I have leaned out over the barrier to take this photo past the canopy near the Mexican end of the bridge. USA-bound traffic is backed up from US Customs.
Welcome to Piedras Negras, Coahuila, arguably the prettiest Mexican city on the Border. Use lane 1 if you have something to declare, 2 or 3 if you don't, and 4 if you're a bus.
Here is more evidence of having crossed from a gun culture to a knife culture.
"Do not bring to Mexico plagues and sicknesses. Avoid infractions and mishaps. Declare: vegetables; dairy; plants; animals; birds; meats."
While those with something to declare are directed into the shed at the left, others aren't. The white sign tells them that they are in the United Mexican States, as they head onto Calle Abasolo. At about this point, my cell phone received a text message. It was from Sprint, telling me how to dial phone calls in Mexico. Apparently, Sprint knows more about who crosses the border than does either government!
This is a typical Mexican customs enforcement vehicle. It's a Dodge Ram Quad Cab pickup, built at Encantada in another part of this same state of Coahuila.
The Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe looms over the plaza just past Mexican customs. Note the gargoyles on the unusual lamp post.
I head back toward the USA. The green overhead sign announces the Mexican toll booths ahead, but the traffic is backed up onto Calle Matamoros from US Customs beyond the bridge. The logo on the sign is that of CAPUFE. Note the pretty little park to the right.
The upper blue sign seems to say that tolls can be paid in currency [of either nation], by swiping plastic, with vehicle transponder tags, or by waving a card with a chip. On the green sign, CAPUFE wishes travelers to Eagle Pass, Texas, a "happy trip."
I have paid CAPUFE my pedestrian toll with $.30 in American coins deposited into a turnstile, and I stop for this view of the turbulent river before entering the bridge canopy. The other end of the bridge is at the line of bluffs beyond the Eagle Pass city golf course, which occupies the wide floodplain on the American side.
The 1970 MXUS treaty says that the boundary is at (and moves with) the middle of the river, but that on bridges it remains fixed at the monument. Thus, there is vertical differentiation of sovereignty at most MXUS bridges. This view looks downstream through the chain-link screen on CAPUFE's canopy a few feet from the monument, which is directly over the US bank of the river due to the river's movement since the 1927 bridge was built. Americans call this the "Rio Grande." Mexicans call it the "Río Bravo del Norte." You can see how close the bluffs are to the river on the Mexican side.
This is the boundary monument on the Mexico-bound (upstream)side of the bridge. The three plaques on the right memorialize friendship between the City of Eagle Pass and the Municipio de Piedras Negras under three different sets of politicians in each. Just above the horizon behind the monuments can be seen a power line through which Eagle Pass imports some of its electricity from Mexico.
The structural joint seems to have confused CAPUFE when it installed the yellow barrier, but the boundary monument and the raised markers on the pavement, both installed by the International Boundary and Water Commission, are official. As I was taking this photo, I suddenly heard what sounded like a loud, fast-moving airplane under the bridge! I quickly turned around and took the next photo.
From Mexican sovereignty on the bridge, looking through CAPUFE's chain-link canopy screen, we see a speeding airboat of the US Border Patrol on the American half of the river. It has just passed below but not through Mexican sovereignty. These boats patrol the river to combat illegal immigration and drug smuggling, mostly done at night, and to rescue illegal crossers drowning in the turbulent water.

	I'm bank in the USA. As I had been told, I took no photos on the American section of the bridge. When I entered the US Border Station, there was a small poster prohibiting photography within. It did not mention the bridge.
	Elsewhere in Eagle Pass, this billboard encourages people to communicate with the US Border Patrol by telephone.