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http://uh.edu/news-events/stories/2017/december/12132017Hines.php

That bridge isn't part of the Ship Channel, it's on the Intracoastal Canal. No really big ships go through there, but it is big enough for reasonably large barges and tugs to use. The bridge span looks to be about 290 feet if my Google Earth skills are not fooling me. Originally, that was the entire causeway, with 2 rail lines, the Interurban line, and 2 lanes of traffic. Some good pictures here https://bridgehunter.com/tx/galveston/bh48174/

It's the railroad bridge that parallels the causeway. The drawbridge on the rail side is up by default because of heavy ship traffic, and trains come less frequently (it is probably one of the few areas where trains don't get right of way). The reason for that is probably whatever authority is in charge of the Houston Ship Channel demands it, and they definitely have more money/political influence than whatever authority tries to do a Galveston/Houston line. The result would be that commuter trains would need to come to a full and complete stop as the bridge is lowered for them (or longer, if there's a ship coming through). The road bridges are high enough that ships pass under them, but the rail isn't.

I'm saying that the actual Houston/Galveston traffic between the two isn't at all worth investing in rail. It's not like The Woodlands, where there's solid traffic on I-45 AND an auxiliary toll road out to the area. In all my trips to Galveston or parts nearby, I-45 is bad (which may or may not relate to construction) but by Texas City it's not bad at all. If road traffic was an issue then when they rebuilt the two Galveston I-45 spans (one of which partially dated back to the 1930s) they would've been much wider. The spans remained at three lanes in each direction with a very long merging lane from the entrance of Harborside Drive (TX 275)/Teichman Road and Tiki Island (and vice versa), presumably with the intent to add a fourth lane if necessary. The other reason why the bridge was rebuilt was in favor of ships. The old bridge and railroad bridge were declared a "hazard" as of 2001. The old bridge had a width of 125 feet and the rail 120 feet. The rebuilt bridge had a clearance of 300 feet, with the rebuilt rail bridge also having 300 feet. From the fact that the default bridge position is "raised", there's a clear ship bias in Galveston. The railroad in Galveston basically functions as a long rail spur, with storage, a few ports, and a few minor others (like the railroad museum). The rails east of 28th Street are also hardly used (if ever), especially since it goes through a highly tourist area. The only reason people still talk about rail to Galveston is that the infrastructure exists, but when inconvenient facts start revealing themselves (unless an entirely new bridge was built, the commuter rail will have to stop at the Causeway, which is probably why the 35 mph cap exists). And when you're talking about a new bridge, any cost-savings on the existing infrastructure vanish (even if UP was totally cool with the passenger trains being on it, which is doubtful). Since I-45 traffic on the bridge is already comparatively light, the question of how much of that traffic is originating from anywhere close to downtown Houston and not the entire region (including as far as Dallas and Louisiana).

This is awesome!

We may not turn in to Brooklyn, Boston, or SF overnight, but I guarantee you will see a massive shift in the overall design and placement of new buildings in the next 5 to 10 years. Houston is going to change dramatically. We can complain how mass transit has not expanded westward but area's like Downtown, Midtown, East End, all the way towards the MedCenter will really densify with greater street presence.

Northeast corner.

They were working on Sunday flying up https://www.thyssenkruppelevator.com/ elevators rails.

i'm hearing it will be named B of A's Depositorium and Good Time Money Hole

I'm guessing it will be announced when a certain large bank nears its lease expiration at a closeby building, where it has its current namesake, and such namesake will be transferred to Capitol Tower.

Counted 25 floors

My mom was one of the realtors murdered there on Aug, 19th, 1983. If anyone out there has any information about this unsolved murder or if you need/want further information, please feel free to contact me. My mom was Fran Ivey. This murder happened almost 33 years ago and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about her. I am now in real estate and keep myself well protected because of that fateful day.