{"id":19907,"date":"2025-10-24T22:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T22:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/19907\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T22:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T22:12:08","slug":"final-phase-of-old-harbor-bridge-demolition-begins-saturday-in-corpus-christi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/19907\/","title":{"rendered":"Final phase of old Harbor Bridge demolition begins Saturday in Corpus Christi"},"content":{"rendered":"

The old Harbor Bridge\u2019s center span will be lowered this weekend as TxDOT begins the final phase of dismantling the 1959 landmark over the ship channel.<\/p>\n

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 The final chapter for the 1959 Harbor Bridge begins this weekend as crews prepare to lower its center span in a carefully coordinated operation stretching from Saturday through Tuesday.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Port of Corpus Christi prepares for temporary ship channel closure during old Harbor Bridge demolition<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, the process marks the start of the bridge\u2019s full decommissioning after more than six decades as a defining landmark over the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. Once the span is lowered and transported away, demolition of the remaining approach structures on both sides will follow later this year, officially completing TxDOT\u2019s $1.3 billion U.S. 181 Harbor Bridge Replacement Project.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor more than 60 years, the 1959 Harbor Bridge has served as an iconic landmark, connecting the people and places surrounding Corpus Christi,\u201d said TxDOT Corpus Christi District Deputy Engineer and Harbor Bridge Project Manager Joseph Briones. \u201cWhile its removal marks the end of an era, we honor the history and memories it represents as we look forward to the new U.S. 181 Harbor Bridge serving the next generation of Texans.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n \"\"<\/p>\n

The operation, designed by TxDOT and Flatiron\/Dragados, LLC, will involve multiple steps to lower the center span as a single unit. A barge named Prometheus will position beneath the bridge to receive the span once it is cut free and lowered using strand jacks and other support equipment. The process is expected to take several days, and TXDOT officials stressed that the operation remains weather dependent.<\/p>\n

Key steps include stabilizing the structure, cutting the joints, lowering the span onto the barge, securing it, and transporting it to a dock between Portland and Ingleside along the La Quinta Channel.<\/p>\n

To ensure public safety, the shared-use path on the new Harbor Bridge will be closed from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 27.<\/p>\n

Constructed in 1959, the original Harbor Bridge was then the largest project in TXDOT’s history. Its design innovations, including the use of pre-stressed concrete and neoprene pads, helped shape modern bridge construction. The bridge served the Coastal Bend for more than 60 years but had reached its intended lifespan and no longer met current safety standards.<\/p>\n

The new, taller Harbor Bridge opened to traffic in June 2025 and is designed to accommodate larger vessels and modern traffic needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The old Harbor Bridge\u2019s center span will be lowered this weekend as TxDOT begins the final phase of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156],"class_list":["post-19907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}