The US 181 Harbor Bridge Replacement Project includes reconstruction of 3.9 miles of US-181, 1.6 miles of I-37, and 1 mile of SH-286 (Crosstown Expressway). In total, the Project includes the development, design, construction, and maintenance of 6.5 miles of bridges, highways, roadways, connecting roadways, and interchanges. The US-181/SH-286/I-37 Interchange is being reconstructed, and the Harbor Bridge is being replaced. This includes direct-connect roadway bridges, precast concrete segmental approach structures, and a new cable-stayed main-channel bridge, which will set a record for the longest concrete cable-stayed span in the U.S.

The new US-181 facility features three travel lanes in each direction with a median barrier, shoulders, and a bicycle/pedestrian shared-use path. The 15,000’ of precast concrete segmental approach structures are being constructed span-by-span with spans exceeding 200'. The roadway bridges consist of 17 bridges with partial depth precast concrete deck panels (TxDOT PCP) and Tx54 prestressed concrete girders on multi-column and single column bents with precast concrete pile or drilled shaft foundations and three precast concrete box culverts. Two direct-connect interchange roadway bridges feature curved steel plate girder units with spans ranging from 131’ to 265’. The plate girders vary in depth from 84” to 96”.

The GM2 Complex Bridge Team is Engineer of Record of the precast concrete segmental approach structures and the direct-connect roadway bridges. GM2 staff also provided onsite QA/QC and assisted with geometry control, quality review, precasting operations, and QA reviews of bridge components before construction. The GM2 Complex Bridge Team is currently providing technical assistance to the Contractor during high-level approach span construction using one of the world’s largest overhead erection gantries.