After halting work on the Harbor Bridge in Corpus Christi, Texas, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the developer have reached an agreement on how to resolve a design dispute that stopped progress on the structure last summer.
The announcement was made Thursday during a meeting of the Corpus Christi Metropolitan Planning Organization's Transportation Policy Committee which had been receiving updates of the progress of the structure since progress was stalled last year.
"We're very pleased to have overcome this and to continue working with TxDOT to restore the community's trust in the project," said Lynn Allison, a spokesperson for Flatiron/Dragados, the project developer.
The dispute was over the proposed design of certain joint pier segments, which connect to the bridge’s main span segments and allow the bridge to expand and shrink in accordance with outside temperatures. To resolve this, Flatiron/Dragados updated the design of the last segments on both ends of the cable-stayed bridge, added rebar to the segments and modified the external bearings on the transition pier cap.
"TxDOT and the developer of the New Harbor Bridge, Flatiron/Dragados, have reached concurrence on the technical resolution of the safety concerns related to the design of the cable-stayed bridge," TxDOT announced in a news release on its website. "TxDOT and (Flatiron/Dragados) will continue to coordinate through construction as the design solutions are incorporated into the project."
Residents will see progress in the coming months. The first stay-cable will run from the north pylon in May. "That is a major milestone," Allison said.
The bridge project is expected within the first half of 2025, over five years behind its original completion schedule. Construction began in August 2016 with an expected completion date in 2020, but the project has been delayed due to a mid-project design firm switch in 2019 and the design disputes last summer.
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Source: Caller.com
