b'Coastal Bend CommunityOUR NEW HARBOR BRIDGESTEADILY TAKING SHAPE C orpus Christis skyline has notthe channel is complete on the northbound yetbeguntotransformintoside, the gantry crane will be shifted to in-theshapethenewHarborstall equal segments of the southbound side Bridge, which will be 67-feetof the North Beach section.taller and 3X the span of theThe route of the new Harbor Bridge is current bridge, but the visibleactually a correction to the route chosen for progress previews what is to come as thethe 1959 structure. A straight shot travel-new driving surface grows in length on theing south from the Nueces Bay Causeway North Beach side of the ship channel. Origi- takes you directly to the IH-37 interchange nally dubbed the 2020 Harbor Bridge, re- with the Crosstown Expresswaythis is the ality seems more like late 2022, which isroute of the new bridge. The current bridge fine, considering the significance the newtakes a wild turn toward the bay, then up bridge will hold as a catalyst for the long- andover,followedbyanotherwildturn anticipated redevelopment of our bayfront. back toward the interstate. Only specula-The projects general contractor, Flat- tion exists as to why the 1959 bridge was ironDragados,istheColorado-basedsubsidiaryofa140-year-old German building firm that has worked on some of the highest pro-fileinfrastructureprojectsinthe U.S.,includingattheDenverand LAX Airports and at the World Trade Center reconstruction site following 9/11. At a cost well over $1 billion, Corpus Christis new landmark will be the longest cable-stay bridge in the United States, and in and of it-self marks the start of a new era of opportunityfortheCoastalBendmoredesigned in this waymaybe they wanted significant than the opening of the Port ofto give drivers a more picturesque entry to Corpus Christi in 1926. the citybut 60 years later, its reasonable A dedicated concrete pre-cast yard op- to state that, at least, dozens of lives have erates in Robstown and is where 2,600 con- been lost due to the construction of one of crete segments are being producedpillarthe most accident-prone urban highways in supports, driving surfaces, segments thatthe state. TopA gantry crane installing segments of the northbound driving surface on North make up the two cable towers, pedestrianSouth of what will be the US-181/IH-37Beach; Above/LeftCable-stay tower on north side of channel; Top/RightSouth and cycling facilities and more. As of theinterchange, the new Comanche St. bridgetower under construction; BelowNew Comanche St. bridge, Lipan now removed.end of the summer, 1,000 total segmentshas opened, and the Lipan St. bridge has hadbeencastinninemolds,with168been demolished and will not be replaced. transported to and installed at the job site.The new bridge is more than twice as wide The most visible progress can be seen fromand will serve as a primary connection be-the north approach, where more then twotween Crosstown and Uptown.dozen support pillars are in place as well asThepracticalrationaleforabillion over a quarter-mile of the northbound driv- dollar investment in a 170-year bridge are ingsurface.Thatgiant,blueandorangeclear and measurablesafety, aging of the contraptionisknownasagantrycrane,current bridge, and expansion of the portand performs the infrastructure magic ofbut the symbolic benefits could be far more installingsegmentsofconcretedrivingimportant. If we Corpus Christians make it surface for the bridge, each weighing hun- our priority for downtown and North Beach dreds of tons. As about half the distanceto live up to the standard set by the new from the current US-181 on North Beach tobridge, we could be the next Austin.58 THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINEFall 2019 TheCoastalBend.com'