The Federal Highway Administration gave final approval for building the new Harbor Bridge after a settlement was reached with neighborhoods in the pathway of the new route across the Corpus Christi Channel. Courtesy illustration
Years in the making, with years to go, a milestone in the construction of the new Harbor Bridge happens August 8 with long awaited groundbreaking ceremonies. The date was announced by John LaRue, executive director of the Port of Corpus Christi at a July port authority meeting. The almost $1 billion project is expected to be completed within five years.
Already a year in the original time line has been lost to a civil rights lawsuit recently settled by the Federal Highway Administration. Approval for the project came in January as the port agreed to pay out as much as $20 million for voluntary land acquisition and relocation expenses for residents in the Hillcrest and Washington-Coles neighborhoods. The new bridge will cut the neighborhoods in two. Additional funds, if needed, will be paid by the Texas Department of Transportation.
The bridge will make history in the city and open the port to taller, bigger ships wiith its 205 feet of vertical clearance. At 1,655 feet, it will be the longest cable-stay construction in the U.S.
Headquarters for the project are complete. The 8,928-square-foot building at 500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Suite 501 cost $175,000.
“The office will be used to manage the design, construction and public involvement of the U.S. 181 Harbor Bridge Replacement Project,” said Rickey Dailey, public information officer for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in Corpus Christi. “It will house both TxDOT project representatives and developer personnel for the duration of the project. In addition to the joint project office, the developer will have one or more field offices supporting construction activities.”
Contractors are Flatiron Constructors Inc. and Dragados USA Inc. The first work visible to the public will involve surveyors and drilling for geotechnical information to determine the physical properties of the site’s soil, rock and subsurface conditions.
“Once construction begins, people will begin to see work take place adjacent to the harbor for the main structure support columns,” Dailey said. “Then, they should expect to see dirt and structure work along the entire footprint of the new bridge and at the [Texas] 286/[Interstate] 37 interchange.”
Traffic over the current bridge will remain in place and fully operational until the new bridge is open, he continued. Some temporary lane closures are to be expected, but the existing Harbor Bridge will remain open to traffic until the end of the project.
“The developer will be working closely with Nueces County and the city of Corpus Christi to coordinate any traffic effects on local streets during construction,” Dailey said.
