Here's when transportation officials say the new Harbor Bridge will open

Corpus Christi Caller-Times
Kirsten Crow, Corpus Christi Caller Times
October 14, 2023

The new Harbor Bridge is estimated to open in spring 2025 with a price tag of about $1.2 billion, transportation officials said Friday – exceeding its previous $803 million estimate and missing its original completion date by about five years.

It will take roughly one year after the new bridge opens for the project to be fully completed, with work to include demolishing the existing bridge, wrote Texas Department of Transportation spokesperson Rickey Dailey in an email to the Caller-Times.

The project has seen a series of delays since its 2016 launch.

Contruction crews work on the south tower of the new Harbor Bridge Project on Sept. 25, 2023, in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Angela Piazza/Caller-Times

Some of those are attributed by TxDOT to disagreements between Flatiron/Dragados and the agency, centered on schedule and cost impacts including those related to permitting, right-of-way acquisition and the replacement of the engineer of record, according to a TxDOT news release.

The agency had announced Thursday that a settlement agreement had been brokered between itself and bridge developer Flatiron/Dragados LLC. for $400 million – a figure that will bring to conclusion years-long disputes and cover claimed damages – and include also withdrawal of TxDOT’s Notice of Default, according to the email.

The money will be sourced through unallocated State Highway funds, a TxDOT fact sheet shows.  

“The costs associated with the claims are unrelated to the design concerns identified by TxDOT and confirmed by an independent review, which led to TxDOT’s Notice of Default in August 2022,” the email states. “FDLLC will continue to honor its previous commitment to absorb all expenditures related to mitigation of those design concerns.”

In the news release, TxDOT asserts there will not be additional costs borne by local entities.

The company “has demonstrated its ability to rectify design concerns to TxDOT’s satisfaction, at FDLLC’s cost, and is also fulfilling its commitment to working cooperatively with TxDOT staff,” wrote TxDOT Corpus Christi District Engineer Valente Olivarez Jr. in the email.

Safety and construction standards will continue to be monitored, according to the news release.

Flatiron/Dragados spokesperson Lynn Allison wrote in a message to the Caller-Times that the settlement was equitable for TxDOT and Flatiron/Dragados.

The company is “dedicated to delivering the safest and most state-of-the-art Cable Stayed Bridge in Texas,” she added.