The Interstate 37 Nueces River Bridge project entered its third and final phase as crews began demolishing the last piece of the existing structure yesterday.
Ernest Longoria, the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TXDOT) Corpus Christi-area engineer, said the plan is to come back and create a center joint. At the end of the project, there will be two stand-alone bridges.
The improvements to I-37 are taking place between Redbird Lane and the U.S. Route 77 interchange. About 45,000 vehicles travel this section daily.
The $85.7 million project will improve safety by widening the main lanes on I-37.
"During the night, our contractors still moving barrier around to get to jump into the last phase," Longoria said. "They actually just started the demolition of the existing structure, the last piece of that structure today actually. So, it'll be a mixture of demolition and then the new bridge getting constructed. And typically the demolition comes first, we got to get that piece out of the way first, and so that'll be about six weeks what we're estimating."
There will be a new northbound exit ramp to Labonte Park, according to Longoria.
The project is ahead of schedule and TXDOT expects the project to complete next summer.
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Source: KIII TV, MSN
