ChannelTwoNews Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Not really new, but I did find these filings with the FAA, circa 2016... '515 https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=308976121&row=12 https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=308976770&row=13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Work is under way, columns are being installed on both sides of the channel (not the main ones). 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota79 Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/transportation/2018/06/01/288149/work-starts-on-billion-dollar-project-to-replace-houston-ship-channel-toll-bridge/amp/ This may not be the right place for this, but how nice to have a bridge with design elements. It should be able to be seen from near downtown. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 Maybe the "Transportation" subforum would be better, but this looks like something of a landmark in the making. If growth projections are to be believed, we're going to need it. Although, one quote caught my eye... Quote Driving along the roadway you will see a beautiful cable-stayed bridge with towers over 500 feet tall, providing aesthetic lighting at night for a completely immersive experience. There's a body of water down there, you know... 2 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatguysly Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 I remember when a company I used to work for was part of a bid package for this project. They were a subcontractor to a larger firm. They won the project but the Harris County stepped in and asked each company on the bid for donations and those that didn't, like the company I worked for, were kicked off the bid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 2 hours ago, Nate99 said: Maybe the "Transportation" subforum would be better, but this looks like something of a landmark in the making. If growth projections are to be believed, we're going to need it. Although, one quote caught my eye... There's a body of water down there, you know... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 11 hours ago, Dakota79 said: This may not be the right place for this, but how nice to have a bridge with design elements. It should be able to be seen from near downtown. Yes, it should. Given a clear enough view, you can see the Hartman bridge from downtown - which is several miles further away. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 This article from Roads and Bridges has a lot more details https://www.roadsbridges.com/ship-and-handling 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 6 hours ago, thatguysly said: I remember when a company I used to work for was part of a bid package for this project. They were a subcontractor to a larger firm. They won the project but the Harris County stepped in and asked each company on the bid for donations and those that didn't, like the company I worked for, were kicked off the bid. If true, shouldn't that information be shared with the district attorney? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Beltway 8 Ship Channel cameras https://www.shipchannelbridge.org/traffic-construction-updates/construction-cameras.html 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post hindesky Posted June 25, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted June 25, 2019 10 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avossos Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 this is going to be so impressive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Curious what it will look like at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post hindesky Posted June 25, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted June 25, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, Triton said: Curious what it will look like at night. I think I posted this before but here is a very cool series of pics taken by a Houston Pilot guiding a ship from the turning basin all the way to Galveston Bay. Edited June 25, 2019 by hindesky starting point 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerNut Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 Company blamed for Miami bridge collapse working on Ship Channel bridge project Quote An independent review of the design of a bridge being built across the Houston Ship Channel on Sam Houston Tollway is underway. The review follows a national report chiefly blaming the bridge’s designer for a fatal bridge collapse near Miami, officials in Harris County said Thursday. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 On 12/7/2019 at 6:20 PM, BeerNut said: Company blamed for Miami bridge collapse working on Ship Channel bridge project An understandable knee jerk reaction, however, these bridges, though they are both cable stay, are completely different in design and construction. Plus the bridge that is being constructed right now has already successfully been constructed numerous times, and its why FIGG got the job in the first place. Again. I get it. Got to cover all bases and all a$$es, but I think this is much ado about nothing. My guess is that their over experience in road bridge design made then greatly underestimate the needs for a pedestrian bridge design, but they have a stellar track record with road bridge design. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonBoy Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 That same company is working on the $1B New Harbor Bridge project down in Corpus Christi. They just halted the project for the same reason. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerNut Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Engineers raise ‘significant concerns’ over design of $1 billion Ship Channel Bridge Quote Designers of the $1 billion Ship Channel Bridge project made faulty assumptions about the soil around the bridge’s critical supports above and below ground, did not properly account for winds on the stability of the supports and failed to factor in the weight of two-way traffic on the southbound span while the northbound structure is built, according to engineers hired by the county to review the plan. 2 1 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted March 10, 2020 Author Share Posted March 10, 2020 Well...that's distressing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainJilliams Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 Good Lord. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 Sounds like someone's errors and omissions insurance may come into play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed_Tx Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 rip it down and hire someone competent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 On 3/19/2020 at 1:38 AM, Tumbleweed_Tx said: rip it down and hire someone competent. That's probably the exact thing that's going to have to happen. Unless there's some way to add extra supports but if there's a problem with the very foundation, I imagine they would have to demo and start over. @Purdueenginerd ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Purdueenginerd Posted March 25, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 25, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, Triton said: That's probably the exact thing that's going to have to happen. Unless there's some way to add extra supports but if there's a problem with the very foundation, I imagine they would have to demo and start over. @Purdueenginerd ? My specialty isnt bridges, but it is important to note that the code that governs the structural engineering of bridges (AASHTO) is generally more stringent than the code(s) that cover buildings. The statement in the news article is alarming but sort of vague. Quote Designers of the $1 billion Ship Channel Bridge project made faulty assumptions about the soil around the bridge’s critical supports above and below ground, did not properly account for winds on the stability of the supports and failed to factor in the weight of two-way traffic on the southbound span while the northbound structure is built, according to engineers hired by the county to review the plan. A brief explainer on load combinations. In both the building code and bridge codes, the predominant system of design today is Load Resistant factored design. (In Wood, Masonry, Soils and some steel structures - the old system is still used sometimes,). Long Story short, the engineers classify different types of loads. I'll just use 3 for example, but there are a lot more. Dead Load(DL) - Self weight of the building/structure Live Load(LL)- typically a transient load/mobile load ie, people. Wind load(W)- Pretty self explanatory. The engineer takes those loads and applies factors to them. Then puts them in different combinations! For example, in the building code here are 4 combinations that you'll likely see. 1.4 * D = Factored Load 1 1.2 *D +1.6L = Factored load 2 1.2*D+1.0W+0.5L =factored load 3 0.9*D+1.0W = factored load 4 Then for each member in a building, the engineer will compare all the load combinations with the capacity. I'm only showing you 4 load combinations, but the structures I work on, its not unrealistic to have 20 to 30. Accounting for wind directions, uplift etc. This system results in "more efficiently" designed structures. A brief example fictitious example: I have two buildings that weigh 2000 lbs: 1 building has to hold up a 1000 lb statue. The 2nd building has to hold up a dance floor with for 1000 lbs of people. Building 1, per code, would have to be designed for 1.4*(3000lbs) = 4200lbs Building 2, per code, would have to be designed for 1.2*2000lbs +1.6(1000lbs) =4000 lbs The reason i'm goign through this giant explanation is that the bridge code, has even more load combinations. Including load combinations on specific lanes loaded, and other lanes unloaded. They got load combos that include vehicle braking force, thermal force, wind, seismic, ice, rain, snow, the list goes on. Quote failed to factor in the weight of two-way traffic on the southbound span while the northbound structure is built What this sounds like to me: They missed a load combo. Does it mean it will fail? Not necessarily. It sounds like theres a potential for damage during a load imbalance. Which may get remedied by restricting the amount of lanes in the south bound span until the other span is complete. Quote faulty assumptions about the soil around the bridge’s critical supports above and below ground, did not properly account for winds on the stability of the supports This is the more concerning to me. The soils part is a bit alarming, because I would presume a pretty substantial geotechnical report was performed for this test. I would imagine they have cut into a bit of their factor of safety for one of the load combinations. Without knowing what exactly is wrong regarding the stability, I cant imagine a full demolition and start over is cheaper than trying to make modifications to the existing structure. I could see it being done out of an abundance of caution, mostly because things went south very badly with the FIU bridge. Anyway, apologies for the wall of text. Edited March 25, 2020 by Purdueenginerd 6 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 That's a really good explanation, PE, not a wall of text. Thanks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slcowart416 Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 Is there any update on this. The HCTRA is not being transparent at all on this. They said the project would be on hold for 2 weeks. Is there a solution? What is it? How much will it cost the taxpayers? The taxpayers have a right to know. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerNut Posted August 12, 2020 Share Posted August 12, 2020 Harris County may remove designer of $1 billion Houston Ship Channel bridge today; $417 million already spent Quote On Tuesday, Harris County Commissioners plan to debate and vote on whether or not to remove FIGG Bridge Engineers from the nearly $1,000,000,000 Houston Ship Channel Bridge Replacement Project. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonBoy Posted August 12, 2020 Share Posted August 12, 2020 Port Officials replaced FIGG down in Corpus Christi for the New Harbor Bridge Project and replaced them with ARUP. Maybe they'll do the same here. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 On 8/11/2020 at 9:12 PM, BeerNut said: Harris County may remove designer of $1 billion Houston Ship Channel bridge today; $417 million already spent Good? right? The $417 million isn't wasted. I'm sure another firm can pick up the torch and make improvements to what has been built... with significant additional funding I'm sure. What a wonderful bubble we live in on HAIF. Even Reddit to an extent. Scum of the earth on the local news channel comments. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted August 14, 2020 Share Posted August 14, 2020 On 8/13/2020 at 9:09 AM, Montrose1100 said: Good? right? The $417 million isn't wasted. I'm sure another firm can pick up the torch and make improvements to what has been built... with significant additional funding I'm sure. What a wonderful bubble we live in on HAIF. Even Reddit to an extent. Scum of the earth on the local news channel comments. So you're saying this comment doesn't add to the discussion? Huh who would've thought... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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