Skip to main content

Houston bridge project, construction paused

Work is being paused on the construction of the new Ship Channel Bridge replacement project close to Houston, Texas.
By MJ Woof January 20, 2020 Read time: 1 min
Construction of the pylons for Houston’s Ship Channel Bridge is being paused for redesign work to be carried out, though other portions of the link are still being built: Image © courtesy of Harris County Toll Road Authority

The Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) is pausing work to build the main pylons for the cable-stayed portion of the new Sam Houston Tollway Ship Channel Bridge. This will give time to review the design of the section of bridge being constructed at present. The consulting and engineering firm COWI identified an issue related to the design of the curved portions of the pylon legs. Pausing the construction will provide time for the engineer of record (FIGG) to design a solution. This will then be reviewed by COWI. When COWI and FIGG agree on the design changes, construction work for the pylons will be able to resume.

However, work will continue for other sections of the project, such as the approaches.

Related Content

  • Sunderland’s New Wear Crossing takes shape
    February 16, 2017
    The New Wear Crossing will be the first bridge to be built over the River Wear in Sunderland, UK, for more than 40 years Raising the bridge’s 100m-tall pylon promised to be a stunning visual sight, but also a tricky operation dictated by extremely variable local weather. World Highways went to press just before the operation, but not before the pylon had arrived by barge on January 7. It had completed a two-day crossing of the often unpredictable North Sea from the Belgian port of Ghent where it was f
  • Doka puts the ‘Y’ in Turkey
    July 8, 2020
    The 600m cable-stayed Kömürhan Bridge rises around 165m over eastern Turkey’s Karakaya Dam Lake and is part of the Malatya-Elazig State Highway. The bridge is the fourth single-pylon cable-stayed bridge in the world and is due to open in July.
  • East End Crossing Project—Availability payment P3 in action
    July 14, 2017
    Indiana exercised its authority to use a P3 contract when it partnered with Kentucky for new bridges across the Ohio River. Barney Allison and John Smolen* explain the groundbreaking availability payment deal. Earlier this year, traffic began rolling over the new tolled Lewis and Clark Bridge spanning the Ohio River from northern Kentucky to southern Indiana. The cable-stayed bridge is part of the award-winning Ohio Bridges Project to untangle traffic within the greater metropolitan area of Louisville, Kent
  • UK ‘pauses’ smart motorway rollout
    January 12, 2022
    New All Lane Running smart motorway schemes halted until five years of safety data is available.