b'left : The new Harbor Bridge will feature LED lighting on the cable structure, plus marque lighting atop each 528-foot tower.above : Three lanes of traffic plus safety shoul-ders, which are not provided on the current bridge, comprise the new design.right : Protected pedestrian path and observation decks will allow sightseers safe access to the tallest structure south of San An-tonio, providing incredible views of Corpus Christi, the Port and bay.aOn the afternoon of December 31, 2015, New YearsA envision the Port of Corpushigh-maintenanceandrequiresregularblastingand bound for destinations across the globe. Eve, local officials celebrated the departure of the TheoIt is not difficult topainting to offset corrosion from the salt air.T, a tanker loaded with 600,000 barrels of Eagle FordChristi becoming one of the top oil and gas exportersThe 1959 Harbor Bridge was built with a fifty-year Shale crude oil, from the NuStar Energy dock at thein the world. life span, so of course discussions about a replacement Port of Corpus Christi. It was no coincidence that thestarted around its forty-ninth year, in 2008. It did not Theo T set sail at the very first moment it was legalnyonewhohasbeeninthetake long for the Texas Department of Transportation for it to do so, loaded with American oil and bound forCoastalBendlong,especially(TxDot) to get behind the project, as did the Federal foreign port for the first time in forty yearswiththose who live in San PatricioHighway Administration with about one-third of the Corpus Christi leading the way. The shipment was soldor Aransas County and work infunding, and with an additional contribution by the by ConocoPhillips to Vitol, a Swiss trading company,Nueces Country, or vice-versa,Port of Corpus Christi, the new 2020 Harbor Bridge which then marketed it to European buyers. havefoundthemselvescurs- project commenced.Withoutmuchcelebration,thePortofCorpusing the Harbor Bridge at leastColorado-based Flatiron Dragados is one of the Christi has become the top crude oil exporting port inasmanytimesastheyhaveleadinginfrastructurebuildersinNorthAmerica,a the U.S. over the two years since the ban was lifted,marveledatthebreathtak- subsidiary of the 140-year-old German firm, Hochtief. accounting for some 30% of all U.S. oil exports. Whileing view as one descends into the city. As relieved asDragados has managed major construction projects at Houston-based Oxy is a major player in the Eagle Fordthose hearty 1959 motorists were to say adios to thethe Los Angeles and Denver airports, the World Trade Shale zone, it is the top producer in West Texas Perm- BasculeBridge,insafetymeasures,itsreplacementCenter reconstruction in New York, the California high ian Basin, the biggest oil field in the lower 48 states,was a flawed design from the start. The steep grade ofspeed rail system, as well as major highways and bridg-where half of the countrys onshore rigs are operating.the Harbor Bridge, its lack of shoulders, and its sharpes in the U.S. and Canada. With an approved budget of To ensure that the flow of oil and gas from these re- curves at the base of both sides of the bridge, havesome $900 million, the new bridge will be one of the cord fields can meet export demand, the Eagle Ford,made it an ongoing traffic and safety headache for al- costliest infrastructure projects in the states history, Permian,Ingleside,CorpusChristi(EPIC)pipelinemost sixty years. let alone the Coastal Bend. For Corpus Christians and project will deliver almost 600,000 barrels of crude,The World War II era design of the Harbor Bridgeour neighbors to the north, our vision of what repre-and 300,000 barrels of natural gas liquids, every day,was bare-bones by modern standards, and even by thesents the city in a single glance will change for good. As along a 700-mile route that extends from West Texas tostandardsof1959.Pedestrianaccessisnarrowandif the Hemisphere Tower or the Alamo vanished from Ingleside. While the ports oil exports grew from aboutlimited, and bicycle access is virtually non-existent.downtown San Antonio, the icon that most represents 150,000 barrels per day in 2016, to over 320,000 perIts lack of safety barriers has allowed it to be a plat- Corpus Christis identity is about to be replaced.day in 2017, this expanded capacity would deliver al- form for dozens of sad souls over the years who haveCable-stayedsuspensionbridgesutilizeoneor most one million barrels per day to port facilities andjumped. The steel frame construction of the bridge ismore towers, or pylons, that tether huge cables in a 30 THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINEMarch/April 2018 THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINEFEATURED: The Stories that Mattered TheCoastalBend.comTheCoastalBend.com 63'