Texas DOT to Cut Ribbon on New Harbor Bridge in Corpus Christi May 10

The Texas Department of Transportation is scheduled to celebrate the completion of the new Harbor Bridge in Corpus Christi with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 10. The bridge, one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the U.S., cost $803 million and spans 3,295 feet between transition piers, with a center span length of 1,661 feet. It features 698 precast concrete box girders, 84 delta frames, and 76 pairs of permanent stay cables, providing three lanes in each direction along with a median barrier, shoulders, and a shared-use path for bicycles and pedestrians. The new bridge offers a clearance of 205 feet, allowing larger ships to access the Port of Corpus Christi.

Developed by flatiron/Dragados, the structure is recognized as the longest concrete segmental cable-stayed bridge in North America. It took a total of 10 million man-hours to complete, with the official completion marked by the concrete placement for the main span closure in February. Recent finishing touches include the installation of stay cable fire protection, traffic barriers, rails, and pedestrian fencing. Temporary steel towers below the back spans will be relocated this summer to prepare for the demolition of the old Harbor Bridge.

The decision to replace the old Harbor Bridge, constructed in the 1950s, was influenced by various factors such as the lack of shoulders, steep grade, high accident rate, and outdated navigational clearance of 138 feet. Work on the new bridge faced delays in the summer of 2022 when design flaws led to a notice of default issued to Flatiron/Dragados by TxDOT. The developer agreed to rectify the deficiencies at its own expense.

Flatiron/Dragados took over as the bridge’s developer in August 2020, following the removal of the previous contractor, FIGG Design Group, which was implicated in the fatal collapse of a pedestrian bridge at Florida International University.