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[bwana39]

While the first  actual BRIDGE is not progressing at all, the approaches for this first of two  are going along on both banks as if nothing were amiss. It appears there are going to be complete approaches on both sides with zero work (perhaps not even a firm plan) on the bridge itself.

[Anthony_JK]

While the first  actual BRIDGE is not progressing at all, the approaches for this first of two  are going along on both banks as if nothing were amiss. It appears there are going to be complete approaches on both sides with zero work (perhaps not even a firm plan) on the bridge itself.

Really? From what I've heard, they will have to tear down and rebuild the approaches at least partly to adapt to the new steel girder design.

[bwana39]

While the first  actual BRIDGE is not progressing at all, the approaches for this first of two  are going along on both banks as if nothing were amiss. It appears there are going to be complete approaches on both sides with zero work (perhaps not even a firm plan) on the bridge itself.

Really? From what I've heard, they will have to tear down and rebuild the approaches at least partly to adapt to the new steel girder design.

There is a lot more of the approaches done than when I was there back in August. It doesn't look like the approaches have stopped. I know they were beginning to build the towers for the suspension cables and that is having to come down, but the approaches are just (rather high) concrete stringer sections. It was too late in the day to stop and take pictures.

[Bobby5280]

Once those bridge approach ramps are finished I can just imagine an Evel Knievel dare-devil type jumping the missing bridge gap with some kind of rocket car.

[bwana39]

Once those bridge approach ramps are finished I can just imagine an Evel Knievel dare-devil type jumping the missing bridge gap with some kind of rocket car.

It looks like the approaches were lengthened toward the water by a couple of supports on each side of the channel from the ones originally set. They (the approaches) are mostly finished, but the bridge still does not appear to be in process at all.

[Plutonic Panda]

Looks like work will soon resume on the bridge with a price increase and obvious delays:

The Ship Channel Bridge along the Sam Houston Tollway will cost Harris County nearly $300 million more, including $50 million to demolish what had been built as part of a "faulty design," according to county officials. The changes also will add three years to the project's original timeline.
What happened? According to Robert Treviño, executive director of Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA), the county hired an engineering consultant to conduct an independent review of the previous Engineer of Record design of the main span portion of the bridge.

- https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/houstons-1b-fix-zachry-construction-traylor-brothers-inc-to-correct-tollway-bridge/55892

[bwana39]

Looks like work will soon resume on the bridge with a price increase and obvious delays:

The Ship Channel Bridge along the Sam Houston Tollway will cost Harris County nearly $300 million more, including $50 million to demolish what had been built as part of a "faulty design," according to county officials. The changes also will add three years to the project's original timeline.
What happened? According to Robert Treviño, executive director of Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA), the county hired an engineering consultant to conduct an independent review of the previous Engineer of Record design of the main span portion of the bridge.

- https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/houstons-1b-fix-zachry-construction-traylor-brothers-inc-to-correct-tollway-bridge/55892

I want to point out. The pictures on this article are dated. The approaches are almost finished on BOTH sides of the channel. It is the bridge itself that is still to be constructed. 

It seems to imply that construction came to a total halt and NOTHING has happened since. The construction of the approaches has not had a significant delay. It is possible there is a three-year delay, but I think much if not most of that delay was already happening BEFORE the stop even happened.

[bwana39]

I am not sure with the change to a more traditional bridge that we might re-think the second span altogether. IE keep the existing Jesse Jones Bridge as the northbound span..... It is more than wide enough for 3 lanes!

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/7HMUAvk56ZYAAUan6
I see the new bridge is going to be higher than the existing one.

[MaxConcrete]

https://goo.gl/maps/7HMUAvk56ZYAAUan6
I see the new bridge is going to be higher than the existing one.

No, it will have the same vertical clearance as the existing bridge, 175 feet. The reason the new approach span is higher at the point of the photo is because the new approach span has a lower grade, so it is longer and is above the existing approach until it reaches the bridge main span.

Of course, the cable stay towers will be much higher then the existing span, which has no structure above the bridge deck.

[bwana39]

https://goo.gl/maps/7HMUAvk56ZYAAUan6
I see the new bridge is going to be higher than the existing one.

No, it will have the same vertical clearance as the existing bridge, 175 feet. The reason the new approach span is higher at the point of the photo is because the new approach span has a lower grade, so it is longer and is above the existing approach until it reaches the bridge main span.

Of course, the cable stay towers will be much higher then the existing span, which has no structure above the bridge deck.

So is the new design cable stayed? 

[MaxConcrete]

So is the new design cable stayed? 

https://www.shipchannelbridge.org/overview/program-facts.html

[bwana39]

So is the new design cable stayed? 

https://www.shipchannelbridge.org/overview/program-facts.html

Isn't that the FIGG Design? This rendering is before the stop. I realize this would be a rather long span for a deck bridge, but the interviews from HCTRA seems to point that direction instead of cable stayed.

[roadman65]

So they’re not copying the Fred Hartman to the east with tower designs I see.

[MaxConcrete]

The official web site is still showing the original design. My perception is that the visual appearance of the main span will be mostly the same, but technical design features will change, such as using more steel instead of concrete.

But I don't know for a fact that the original appearance will be retained.

[bwana39]

The official web site is still showing the original design. My perception is that the visual appearance of the main span will be mostly the same, but technical design features will change, such as using more steel instead of concrete.

But I don't know for a fact that the original appearance will be retained.

I read quite a bit. Like you you, I saw nothing about the towers or the cables themselves.  My perception (apparently wrong) was that all cable stayed bridges were concrete. That misperception would have made the steel runners / stringers that they have definitely said are going to be in there incompatible with cable stayed.  The one thing I did see was where someone from HCTRA said the new design would be less visually striking (but did not say what the profile would look like. )

[DNAguy]

The official web site is still showing the original design. My perception is that the visual appearance of the main span will be mostly the same, but technical design features will change, such as using more steel instead of concrete.

But I don't know for a fact that the original appearance will be retained.

I read quite a bit. Like you you, I saw nothing about the towers or the cables themselves.  My perception (apparently wrong) was that all cable stayed bridges were concrete. That misperception would have made the steel runners / stringers that they have definitely said are going to be in there incompatible with cable stayed.  The one thing I did see was where someone from HCTRA said the new design would be less visually striking (but did not say what the profile would look like. )

https://www.fox26houston.com/news/toll-road-authority-explains-300-million-fix-for-ship-channel-bridge-project

Rather than the original sleek concrete design, the bridge will be constructed with steel, like many other bridges. It will also take time to complete. Rather than the original 2024 completion date, work is now expected to last into 2028, before traffic congestion is eased on the busy thoroughfare.

Are you referring to this?

I don’t know if they’re saying the bridge will look totally different, the concrete pylons will now be steel pylons, or if the pylons will not be ‘sleek’ but a bulky due to their use of steel.

[Chris]

Steel pylons were used a lot for the first generation of German cable-stayed bridges built in the 1960s and 1970s. These have similar spans as the Houston Ship Channel Bridge (which is 1320 ft).

Steel cable-stayed bridges are also more common in Japan, their largest cable-stayed bridges are steel. Examples: https://goo.gl/maps/6BgqdAaKG2m8BHrj6 or https://goo.gl/maps/xCL6GF8saYeLJs3F6