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New Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge

Started by MaxConcrete, February 23, 2014, 12:43:34 AM

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bwana39

#50
Quote from: armadillo speedbump on September 21, 2022, 06:47:49 PM
Good video, more interesting than I expected.  Thanks for posting it.

But also infuriating.  So if I understand correctly, the contractor took over and was tasked with reviewing the design of the discredited and incompetent FIGG for critical flaws, correcting and making sure the revised design would be safe.  After which they were able to renew construction while the state's independent firm finished it's review of the revised design. 

And now their defense is basically, "Why didn't you stop us from proceeding with our new revised design that we were supposed to make safe but we failed to catch our own mistakes and flaws?"  Seems like another case of either a firm's incompetence and/or putting profits over safety.  With such a critical structure like this massive bridge, where a failure could literally kill hundreds or thousands, why shouldn't the persons who failed in their safety review of the design be barred from future infrastructure work?

The real question in most of it is what is the worst case. It boils down to two real issues. How flexible is the concrete in reality and what is the load the structure will tolerate when the cranes that are parked on it are fully loaded. It appears the engineers the builder hired and the engineers that TXDOT contracted with have differing opinions. The real issue is what does the science say. It appears TXDOT's consultant is firmly entrenched in the ALL position. This all seems pretty one-sided with the contractor being seemingly silent due to potential litigation as opposed to an indefensible position.

Clearly this engineering standoff runs somewhere between Galloping Gertie and the Golden Gate Bridge (which detractors said would fail within a decade. ) We have heard one side and are chirping their unerring dedication to safety but what about the other side?
Let's build what we need as economically as possible.


rte66man

#51
From the Corpus Christi Caller Times:
https://www.caller.com/story/news/local/2022/10/06/txdot-briefs-state-lawmakers-on-stalled-harbor-bridge-project/69543891007/

Quote
'Lessons learned': TxDOT briefs state lawmakers on stalled Harbor Bridge project
The Texas Department of Transportation halted work on the bridge's main span in July due to design concerns. The degree to which the prolonged, nearly $1 billion project may be delayed is unknown.
Chase Rogers
Corpus Christi Caller Times

Texas Department of Transportation officials briefed state lawmakers on the status of the troubled Harbor Bridge project during a heated public hearing in Corpus Christi on Thursday, more than two months since the state agency indefinitely halted work on the bridge's main span.

The Texas House Transportation Committee hearing, held at the Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz International Center, just a short distance from the incomplete bridge, marked the first time TxDOT has publicly answered questions from state officials about the bridge project. The project, which broke ground in 2016 and was initially expected to be completed in 2020, is at least four years behind schedule and expected to exceed its nearly $1 billion budget.

For more than an hour, the bipartisan committee of lawmakers and representatives of the Nueces County delegation peppered TxDOT officials with an array of questions about the project. The committee heard voluntary testimony from local elected officials and the chairman of the Port of Corpus Christi Authority.

The new Harbor Bridge will be the tallest structure in South Texas when it is completed. It will replace the existing 1950s-era Harbor Bridge, a signature of Corpus Christi's skyline that connects the city via U.S. 181 to North Beach, the home of popular tourist attractions USS Lexington and Texas State Aquarium.

The bridge developer, Flatiron/Dragados, said earlier this year that the new bridge would be completed in late 2024. However, TxDOT directed the developer to pause construction on the bridge's main span in July, citing concerns with the proposed design. TxDOT and its independent consultant, International Bridge Technologies, said the planned design of the bridge would risk collapse under certain conditions.

Questions from the committee centered on when TxDOT first became aware of the design concerns, whether officials could have addressed those issues sooner and the execution of the design-build process TxDOT is using to deliver the project.

Democratic state Rep. Terry Canales of Edinburg, the chairman of the committee, said the sequence of issues and delays has "challenged the integrity"  of TxDOT's bridge development process and the trust of local residents.

While fielding questions from Canales, TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams said the delays were unacceptable and that TxDOT has had "lessons learned"  from the project. TxDOT plans, he said, to exercise more oversight on projects of a similar scale to the Harbor Bridge in the future.

"(TxDOT) very much shares in the frustration that residents and businesses and community leaders of the Corpus Christi region have felt over the delays associated with the work on this project,"  Williams said in his opening remarks. "In this particular instance, I believe there were challenges with how those risks were processed and managed, and we made changes in our program to better account for that."

TxDOT does not currently have a completion timeline or an estimate of when construction on the main span would resume, as those elements depend on solidifying plans by Flatiron/Dragados to address TxDOT's design concerns, Williams said.

That a timeline has not yet been presented was a sticking point for some lawmakers, including state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, who said, "(E)verything I've heard today isn't really moving the ball."

However, signaling that TxDOT may be sticking with the current developer, Williams said TxDOT and Flatiron/Dragados had signed a written agreement that detailed how the project would move forward following the pause.

In August, TxDOT gave Flatiron/Dragados a 15-day timeline, initiated by a legal notice called a notice of default, to address its design concerns or be removed from the project. TxDOT and the developer later opted to continue those negotiations, which Olivarez said at the time were "promising."

However, Williams said Thursday that the new agreement retains the legal remedies put in place when TxDOT issued the notice of default to Flatiron/Dragados, meaning TxDOT could still remove the developer without issuing an additional notice until it decides to rescind the notice of default. TxDOT has taken preemptive steps to continue construction should it remove the developer, Williams said.

TxDOT has promised local officials that the local governmental entities will not front any additional costs associated with delays. To date, TxDOT has paid Flatiron/Dragados $786 million for its work on the project, which was initially estimated to cost $930 million.

Flatiron/Dragados has assured TxDOT it would resolve the design concerns at the company's expense, a TxDOT spokesperson, Rickey Dailey, told the Caller-Times this week.
When you come to a fork in the road... TAKE IT.

                                                               -Yogi Berra


MaxConcrete

#53
https://www.enr.com/articles/55604-corpus-christi-new-harbor-bridge-main-span-work-cleared-to-resume
Quote
Work on the main span of the new Harbor Bridge in Corpus Christi, Texas, resumed Dec. 15 after a nearly four-month suspension over design safety concerns. Texas Dept. of Transportation officials now anticipate completing the $930-million cable-stayed bridge within three years.

Crews from joint venture contractor Flatiron/Dragados LLC now can lift delta frames into place and continue construction of the main span towers, the agency announced.

In a statement, Olivarez said the resumption in erecting elements of the bridge superstructure indicates the contractor is adhering to a work schedule to complete the project in 2025. Officials had originally aimed to finish it in 2021.

www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

jgb191

^ And I thought no news is good news.  Better late than never!
We're so far south that we're not even considered "The South"

Plutonic Panda


roadman65

Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

Plutonic Panda

Quote from: roadman65 on April 10, 2023, 09:53:46 AM
Quote from: Plutonic Panda on April 10, 2023, 09:43:19 AM
Another article detailing the new work being done and it's still on track to be finished in 2025: https://www.caller.com/story/news/local/harbor-bridge/2023/04/07/txdot-corpus-christi-harbor-bridge-developer-resolve-final-design-dispute/70093033007/

Yeah right.
? Seems plausible. Even if it's 2026 it still doesn't seem that far away given how long this thing has been U/C. What's another 2-3 years at this point.

sprjus4

It'll be done before 2050 hopefully  :-D

J N Winkler

I think the 2025 completion date is plausible.  I looked at some of the material TxDOT made public, which include correspondence between itself and the contractor.  The key letters include several signed by someone whose name I don't recognize but who is clearly very high up in Dragados, with a Madrid return address, asking (though not in so many words) what the company needed to do to make this problem go away.

While there is a limit to how far TxDOT and the contractor can control the risks inherent to this project, I would expect the latter's personnel are highly motivated to finish on time just to keep their heads on their shoulders.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

Bobby5280

With all the bad luck this project has had it wouldn't surprise me if Corpus Christi got hit with a hurricane later this Summer and cause at least some damage to the construction project.

jgb191

Quote from: sprjus4 on April 10, 2023, 12:33:00 PM
It'll be done before 2050 hopefully  :-D

If not it will go down in the Book of World Records as the longest construction project in human history.
We're so far south that we're not even considered "The South"

triplemultiplex

Quote from: jgb191 on April 11, 2023, 12:27:28 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on April 10, 2023, 12:33:00 PM
It'll be done before 2050 hopefully  :-D

If not it will go down in the Book of World Records as the longest construction project in human history.

Union City, TN bypass says "hi"
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

roadman65

#63
Quote from: triplemultiplex on April 11, 2023, 12:19:46 PM
Quote from: jgb191 on April 11, 2023, 12:27:28 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on April 10, 2023, 12:33:00 PM
It’ll be done before 2050 hopefully  :-D

If not it will go down in the Book of World Records as the longest construction project in human history.

Union City, TN bypass says "hi"

Terminal C was at Newark Liberty Airport when the current Airport facility opened in 1972.

It wasn’t until 1983 it was completed and even only in part.  About 1985 or so it got all completed.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

wdcrft63

Quote from: triplemultiplex on April 11, 2023, 12:19:46 PM
Quote from: jgb191 on April 11, 2023, 12:27:28 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on April 10, 2023, 12:33:00 PM
It'll be done before 2050 hopefully  :-D

If not it will go down in the Book of World Records as the longest construction project in human history.

Union City, TN bypass says "hi"
Stick with highway projects. Building the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris took 97 years (1163-1260) and I'm sure that's not the record for human history.

bwana39

Quote from: wdcrft63 on April 11, 2023, 06:24:11 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on April 11, 2023, 12:19:46 PM
Quote from: jgb191 on April 11, 2023, 12:27:28 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on April 10, 2023, 12:33:00 PM
It'll be done before 2050 hopefully  :-D

If not it will go down in the Book of World Records as the longest construction project in human history.

Union City, TN bypass says "hi"
Stick with highway projects. Building the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris took 97 years (1163-1260) and I'm sure that's not the record for human history.

Even in the modern era in the US, the national cathedral took 83 years
Let's build what we need as economically as possible.

Rothman

Quote from: bwana39 on April 11, 2023, 08:54:01 PM
Quote from: wdcrft63 on April 11, 2023, 06:24:11 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on April 11, 2023, 12:19:46 PM
Quote from: jgb191 on April 11, 2023, 12:27:28 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on April 10, 2023, 12:33:00 PM
It'll be done before 2050 hopefully  :-D

If not it will go down in the Book of World Records as the longest construction project in human history.

Union City, TN bypass says "hi"
Stick with highway projects. Building the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris took 97 years (1163-1260) and I'm sure that's not the record for human history.

Even in the modern era in the US, the national cathedral took 83 years

Sagrada Familia...
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

Plutonic Panda


roadman65

This is a race. The CC Harbor verses all of I-69.   :bigass:

The rate this project goes, I will put my money on I-69 to get completed first within the state. That includes I-369. :)
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

Thegeet


bwana39

Quote from: roadman65 on July 26, 2023, 04:15:51 AM
This is a race. The CC Harbor verses all of I-69.   :bigass:

The rate this project goes, I will put my money on I-69 to get completed first within the state. That includes I-369. :)

I will bet you on that, the last 20 miles of I-69 (From the I-369 split) will NEVER get built.
Let's build what we need as economically as possible.

Plutonic Panda


MaxConcrete

#72
Progress appears to be slow since my previous visit in July 2022. Photo taken Saturday, Nov. 18. Hopefully work is gaining momentum after the pause.

http://dallasfreeways.com/dfwfreeways/AARoads/20231116-18_055-1600.jpg




Work on the interchange at I-37 and SH 286 (south end of the bridge) appears to be over 80% complete.

http://dallasfreeways.com/dfwfreeways/AARoads/20231116-18_049-1600.jpg




View on the south end of the existing bridge

http://dallasfreeways.com/dfwfreeways/AARoads/20231116-18_057-1600.jpg


www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

ski-man

That third picture is impressive........... :colorful: :colorful: :colorful:



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