Harbor Bridge Project

The Harbor Bridge Project (or New Harbor Bridge or US 181 Harbor Bridge) is the replacement of the existing through arch bridge that crosses the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, which serves the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, with a modern cable-stayed bridge design. The route will connect with SH 286 (the Crosstown Expressway) at its southern terminus and US 181 on the north. Groundbreaking on construction took place on August 8, 2016 and was scheduled to be completed by the spring of 2020, but was extensively delayed due to engineering and design issues, and is tentatively planned to be completed in 2025.[4][5]

Harbor Bridge Project
Coordinates27°48′48.55″N 97°23′56.22″W
Carriessix lanes of US 181; bicycle/pedestrian shared path
CrossesCorpus Christi Ship Channel
LocaleCorpus Christi, Texas
Websiteharborbridgeproject.com
Characteristics
Designcable-stayed bridge
MaterialPost-tensioned concrete
Total length3,285 ft (1,001 m) (main span unit)
~10,820 ft (3,298 m) (total length with approaches)[1][2]
Height538 ft (164 m)
Longest span1,661 ft (506 m)
Clearance below205 ft (62 m)
History
Engineering design byFigg Bridge Engineers
Arup-CFC
Constructed byFlatiron/Dragados
Construction startAugust 2016[3]
Construction end2020 (original date)
mid-2025 (new estimate)[3]
Construction cost$930 million (estimate)
ReplacesCorpus Christi Harbor Bridge
Location

History

Planning for the bridge began in 2003 to address the maintenance and safety issues of the existing Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge as well as provide long term access to the Port of Corpus Christi to larger ship vessels (including Panamax).[6][7][8] Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) awarded developer Flatiron/Dragados with the design–build contract for the project. The old bridge will be demolished upon project completion.[3]

Design

The new design is a cable-stayed bridge made up of twin precast concrete delta frame segmental box girders that spans 1,661 feet (506 m) across the entire ship channel bank-to-bank, providing 205 feet (62 m) of clearance above the water. The twin parallel cable-stays are arranged in a fan along middle of the mixed-use deck 134 feet (41 m) wide that carry six lanes of US 181 and a bicycle and pedestrian path with a mid-span belvedere facing the Gulf of Mexico. The approaches are of the same box girder type supported by columns 180 feet (55 m) apart.[7][9]

Construction
The New Harbor Bridge under construction in 2019

To assemble the superstructure, box girders cast near the bridge site are lifted and brought into place using a self-propelled gantry crane, and then the tendons are post-tensioned before the crane moves to the next segment and repeats.[10]

The structure is slated to be the longest cable-stayed, concrete segmental bridge in the North America.[7] If completed before the Gordie Howe International Bridge, also under construction, it will also briefly have the longest cable-stayed span in the North America.[10][11] Corpus Christi's nearby John F. Kennedy Memorial Causeway, which has a similar construction method, is the first precast concrete post-tensioned segmental box girder bridge in the United States.[10][12]

Construction suspension

In March 2018, a pedestrian bridge collapse in Florida prompted extensive reevaluation of bridge construction across the United States. An NTSB investigation ultimately concluded that the chief probable cause for the Florida bridge collapse was an error in design by the FIGG Bridge Group.[13] FIGG was also the engineer for the Harbor Bridge Project. This prompted a design review by TxDOT who in 2019 ultimately asked the bridge developer Flatiron/Dragados to remove FIGG and select a different engineering firm.[Note 1][15]

In July 2020 the developer designated the new engineer for the project as Arup-CFC, who expected no major changes.[16] Construction resumed in August 2021.[10]

In July 2022 a TxDOT-ordered independent review by International Bridge Technologies found significant design flaws that persisted in its design, including five primary areas of concern.[Note 2] TxDOT subsequently suspended work on the bridge.[17][18] The developer Flatiron/Dragados disputes some of these findings, and as of September 2022 discussion were ongoing with TxDOT regarding future construction and potential design remedies.[10][19]

Work continues

TxDOT and Arup-CFC resolved one of the five design issues, deciding to add additional steel reinforcement to the delta box girders, and work resumed on those sections as of November 3, 2022. Construction of the approach spans has continued despite the halt on the main span and towers, and were over 80% complete as of October 28, 2022.[5][20] TxDOT and Flatiron/Dragados resolved the four remaining design issues in April 2023.[3]

See also

Notes
  1. FIGG had previously been removed from another Texas project, the replacement of the Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge.[14]
  2. "...the five primary areas of concern are: (1) inadequate capacity of the pylon drilled shafts, (2) deficiencies in footing caps that led IBT to report that the bridge would collapse under certain load conditions, (3) delta frame design defects, primarily related to the connections between the delta frames and the adjacent precast box units, (4) significant uplift at the intermediate piers, and (5) excessive torsion and other stresses related to crane placement during construction."[17]

References
  1. https://harborbridgeproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/HBR_RDWY_Schematic_DRC-6_Page_1.jpg
  2. https://harborbridgeproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/HBR_RDWY_Schematic_DRC-6_Page_2.jpg
  3. Tyson, Daniel (April 10, 2023). "Design Issues Resolved in Delayed $1B Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge". Engineering News-Record.
  4. "FHWA - Center for Innovative Finance Support - Project Profiles". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  5. Rogers, Chase (October 28, 2022). "TxDOT, Harbor Bridge developer resolve 1 of 5 design disputes, push completion to 2025". Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
  6. "US 181 Harbor Bridge Replacement Project - Executive Summary" (PDF). TxDOT.
  7. Briones, Joseph (October 11, 2017). "Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge Short Course 2017" (PDF). tamu.edu. Texas Department of Transportation.
  8. "U.S. 181 (Harbor Bridge) Feasibility Study" (PDF). Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge Project. Corpus Christi: Texas Department of Transportation. June 2003.
  9. "Technical Proposal to Develop, Design, Construct, & Maintain US 181 Harbor Bridge Replacement Project - Executive Summary" (PDF). ftp.dot.state.tx.us. Flatiron/Dragados. April 30, 2015.
  10. Hillhouse, Grady (September 20, 2022). "What Really Happened at the New Harbor Bridge Project?". Practical Engineering. Archived from the original on September 28, 2022.
  11. McLoud, Don (November 4, 2022). "Harbor Bridge work resumes after TxDOT, developer reach agreement". Equipment World. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  12. Kashima, S.; Breen, John E. (February 1975). Construction and Load Tests of a Segmental Precast Box Girder Bridge Model (Report). University of Texas at Austin Center for Highway Research. p. v. CFHR 3-5-69-121-5. Retrieved September 15, 2021. The cantilever construction of the first segmental precast prestressed concrete box girder bridge in the United States has been recently completed on the John F. Kennedy Memorial Causeway, Corpus Christi, Texas. The segments were precast, transported to the site, and erected by the balanced cantilever method of post-tensioned construction, using epoxy resin as a jointing material.
  13. Mazzei, Patricia (October 22, 2019). "Flawed Design, Lax Oversight Led to 'Astounding' Miami Bridge Collapse". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  14. Begley, Dug (November 30, 2021). "Harris County to spend nearly $300M more to fix Ship Channel Bridge project, starting with demo of work already completed". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  15. Poirier, Louise; Judy, Scott (January 15, 2020). "Designer FIGG Removed From One Bridge Job, Faces Scrutiny on Second". Engineering News-Record.
  16. Hakimian, Rob (August 23, 2022). "Contractors on $930M Texas bridge could be removed over lack of action on safety deficiencies". New Civil Engineer.
  17. Barth, Brian R. (July 15, 2022). "US 181 Harbor Bridge Replacement Project CSJ# 0101-06-095 Suspension of Work on New Harbor Bridge" (PDF). Letter to Keith Armstrong, Flatiron/Dragados, LLC. TxDOT. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  18. Leggate, James (September 1, 2022). "TxDOT: Flatiron/Dragados Takes 'New Direction' in Bridge Design Safety Dispute". Engineering News-Record.
  19. Leggate, James (August 17, 2022). "TxDOT: Flatiron/Dragados Faces Default Over Bridge Design Issues". Engineering News-Record.
  20. Leggate, James (November 3, 2022). "DOT, Flatiron-Dragados Resolve Corpus Christi Bridge Design Issue". Engineering News-Record.
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