North America’s longest concrete segmental cable-stayed bridge opened to traffic on 28 June.
The $1.3bn New Harbor Bridge over the ship channel at the port of Corpus Christi in Texas has a full span of just over a kilometre (1,004m, 3,295ft) with a main span of 506m (1,661ft).
Its 164m (538ft) tower is one of the tallest structures in southern Texas.
Developed by a joint venture of Flatiron and Dragados, now one company, it replaces an older bridge completed in 1959.
Importantly for Corpus Christi – the US’ biggest crude-oil port – the new bridge stands 62.5m (205ft) above the water, high enough to let the Neo-Panamax class of container ship pass underneath.
The old bridge stood just 42m (138ft) above the water.
Long and winding road to now
The new bridge has been a long time coming. The first public meeting about replacing the old one took place in 2011.
In recent years, design issues delayed progress.
In 2020, the bridge’s engineer, FIGG Bridge Engineers, was removed from the project after a federal investigation blamed it for the collapse in 2018 of a pedestrian bridge at Florida International University in Miami, which killed six people.
FIGG was replaced by a team of UK consulting engineer Arup and Spain’s Carlos Fernandez Casado (CFC).
Then in 2022, an independent third-party review of the designs flagged up potential safety concerns, which led to a standoff between TxDOT and the bridge’s developers, which they agreed to resolve in April 2023.
‘Gateway for jobs’
Officials are now looking to a brighter future.
Corpus Christi mayor Paulette Guajardo said the new bridge “solidifies Corpus Christi’s position as a global energy hub”.
Texas governor Greg Abbott called it “a gateway for jobs, trade, and continued growth in the Coastal Bend”.
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