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Fred Hartman Bridge

Coordinates: 29°42′12″N 95°01′03″W / 29.70347°N 95.01742°W / 29.70347; -95.01742
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Fred Hartman Bridge
Coordinates29°42′12″N 95°01′03″W / 29.70347°N 95.01742°W / 29.70347; -95.01742
Carries8 lanes of SH 146
CrossesHouston Ship Channel
LocaleHarris County, south of Baytown, Texas and north of La Porte, Texas
Official nameFred Hartman Bridge
Maintained byTexas Department of Transportation
Characteristics
Designfan arranged cable-stayed bridge
MaterialCables: polymer-wrapped twisted steel wire bundles
pylons: reinforced concrete
main deck: reinforced concrete
approach deck: precast prestressed concrete[1]
Total length4.185 kilometers (2.60 mi)[1]
Width47 meters (154 ft)[1]
Height133 meters (436 ft) (pylon)[1]
Longest span381 meters (1,250 feet)[1]
Clearance above80.6 meters (262 feet)
Clearance below54.8 meters (178 feet)
History
Construction start1986[1]
Construction end1995[1]
OpenedSeptember 27, 1995; 29 years ago (1995-09-27)[1]
Statistics
Tollnone
Location
Map

The Fred Hartman Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge[2] in the U.S. state of Texas spanning the Houston Ship Channel. The bridge carries 2.6 miles (4.2 km) of State Highway 146 (SH 146), between the cities of Baytown and La Porte[3] (east of Houston). The bridge is also expected to carry State Highway 99 (SH 99) (Grand Parkway) when it is completed around Houston.[4]

The bridge, named for Fred Hartman (1908–1991), the editor and publisher of the Baytown Sun from 1950 to 1974, is the longest cable-stayed bridge in Texas, and one of only four such bridges in the state, the others being Veterans Memorial Bridge in Orange County, Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas and Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge in Erath County. It is the 77th largest bridge in the world. The construction cost of the bridge was $91.25 million.

The bridge replaced the Baytown Tunnel (of depth clearance 40 feet or 12.2 m).[5] The tunnel had to be removed when the Houston Ship Channel was deepened to 45 feet (13.7 m), with a minimum 530 feet (161.5 m) bottom width, to accommodate larger ships. The last section of the Baytown Tunnel was removed from the Houston Ship Channel on September 14, 1999, with removal of the tunnel being the responsibility of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).[5]

Construction

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Fred Hartman Bridge

In October 1985 the Texas Highway department announced the project and estimated it would take two years to complete. The bridge was designed by Greiner Engineering, Inc., which was acquired by URS Corporation in 1995, which in turn was acquired by AECOM in October 2014.[6] Construction began in 1987 and was contracted by Williams Brothers and Traylor Brothers construction companies. In 1993, The firm selected to produce the steel, a Mexican company, went bankrupt. The contract was then awarded to a South African company which caused complaints because of the country's apartheid policies. After the completion date was pushed back several times, a letter was sent to the Texas Department of Transportation's executive director, William Burnett from the city of Baytown via the Baytown Sun in early 1995 which helped spur interest in finishing the project. Finally, on September 27, 1995 the Fred Hartman Bridge had its grand opening ceremony, which was hosted by Baytown Chamber of Commerce and La Porte Chamber of Commerce. Notable guests include George W. Bush, Miss Texas 1995, William Burnett and the Hartman family. Fred Hartman died in 1991 and did not live to see his dream come to fruition.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Fred Hartman Bridge at Structurae
  2. ^ Begley, Dug (21 June 2018). "New Ship Channel Bridge will be one for the record books". Huston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers, LLC. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  3. ^ Benz, Rob (2006). "Baytown Bridge (HWY-146)". Mappic-BBridge (Angled photo).
  4. ^ "Fred Hartman Bridge, Baytown, Texas". Williams Brothers Construction Company. Retrieved 18 February 2016. Once completed, the SH 99 Grand Parkway will include this 2.6 mile, eight lane stretch of SH 146 in East Houston
  5. ^ a b "Welcome to the Houston-Galveston Navigation Channel Project Online Resource Center". United States Army Corps of Engineers. December 2005. Archived from the original on 2009-01-09.
  6. ^ Kirkham, Chris (October 17, 2014). "Aecom finalizes $6-billion acquisition of engineering design rival URS". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
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