AASHTO Journal, 12 August 2016
Gov. Greg Abbott and other Texas officials participated in a groundbreaking ceremony Aug. 8 to launch a $930 million construction project to build a new Harbor Bridge over the Port of Corpus Christi’s main turning basin.
When completed – mostly by April 2021 – planners say the new structure will provide 205-foot clearance over the waterway, enough to accommodate the largest ocean-going vessels including those crossing the newly expanded Panama Canal. The existing bridge provides a 138-foot clearance.
It will also be the nation’s longest precast concrete cable-stayed bridge, the announcement said, and will use advanced bridge technologies to give it a projected lifespan of more than 170 years.
The work will replace a bridge completed in 1959, and planning for it has been under way for 15 years.
The Texas Department of Transportation awarded a design-build contract for the project, which will produce a bridge with six lanes of traffic plus a protected pedestrian walkway and rebuild about 1.6 miles of Interstate 37 plus 1 mile of the city’s Crosstown Expressway. In all, it will build about 6.4 miles of combined bridge and roadway, according to a project website.
TxDOT said the funding is provided by local, state and federal sources, and the contract includes a 25-year maintenance agreement with the developer.
Abbott congratulated TxDOT, the area’s port authority and the city of Corpus Christi for getting it under way. “Today’s groundbreaking marks an important step in Texas’ goal of creating a 21st century infrastructure system that gives us an advantage on our global competitors,” he said. “As one of the largest bridge projects in Texas history, the Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge will lead to an expansion in commerce, ultimately creating more jobs and enhancing Texas’ standing as an economic powerhouse.”
Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Tryon Lewis said: “TxDOT is improving safety and connectivity in the area with a new bridge that is world-class in engineering and design. TxDOT employees and their partners have developed a project that is an outstanding combination of innovation, beauty and functionality.”
The agency said the new bridge will have a main span of 1,655 feet that runs the entire width of the ship channel, with two main towers at 538 feet tall. Using the precast concrete, it said, will allow builders to keep the busy ship channel open to freight cargoes while the new bridge is under construction. It also said the precast concrete structure “provides greater durability over the existing steel structure in the corrosive coastal climate.”
