Flatiron and Dragados win Corpus Christi Bridge deal

The 3496 Texas Transportation Commission has conditionally awarded the two companies, 2758 Flatiron and 4761 Dragados the contract to design, build and operate a new cable stayed Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge.

The structure will be the longest cable stayed bridge in the United States and allow larger ships access to the city’s port, according to a statement by 917 ACS Group, the Spainsh parent company of Dragados. Flatiron is a wholly owned subsidiary of German company 981 Hochtief, in which ACS has a 50.16% stake.

Flatiron/Dragados, one of four bidders shortlisted by the Texas DoT last year, won the contract with a bid of US$983.4 million.

The other three bidding groups were Harbor Bridge Constructors, owned by Walsh Infrastructure; Harbor Bridge Partners, owned by Kiewit Development; and Traylor-Zachry-Fluor Crosstown Builders, made up of 2760 Traylor Brothers, Zachry Construction and 6343 Fluor Enterprises.

The current Harbor Bridge was opened in 1956 to replace a drawbridge and now handles 26,000 vehicles per day. In December 2011, an LED lighting system was installed as joint project between the City of Corpus Christi, the Port of Corpus Christi, the Texas Department of Transportation and American Bank, at a cost of around $2.2 million.

The contract includes an allocation amounting to $854.6 million for design and construction of the bridge and another $128.2 million for the maintenance and operation of the bridge for 25 years.

Flatiron/Dragados will demolish the existing Harbor Bridge and also make improvements to local highways. The new structure across the entrance channel of the Port of Corpus Christi will have six spans, with a 505m main span, “which will constitute the greatest length between supports for a cable-stayed bridge in the United States”. The bridge will also have a clearance of 62m to allow the largest ocean-going vessels, including those that cross the expanded Panama Canal, to access the Port of Corpus Christi.

The project also includes works on the US 181 motorway, on which the bridge is situated, and on the I-37 and SH-286 motorways.

ACS, as part of another consortium, recently announced it had won the contract for the new Champlain Bridge over the St. Lawrence River in Montreal, Canada - “an essential step for its consolidation in Canada”.

Last July, the Texas Department of Transportation awarded 3005 Atkins a six-year management consultancy contract worth $25 million. The deal covers right-of-way oversight, compliance review and utility coordination services for transportation-related public-private partnership projects. Atkins is advising on design-build contracts and other delivery methods.