Dive Brief:
- Texas DOT has settled all disputes and damage claims with the Flatiron/Dragados joint venture building the $1.2 billion. Harbor Bridge Project in Corpus Christi, Texasthe agency announced on October 12. The $400 million settlement will be paid for through unappropriated state highway fundsand Texas DOT will withdraw its notice of noncompliance and close claims dating back to 2016.
- In August 2022, the agency issued the default notice due to five key design issues and forced the closure of construction sites until the contractor addressed them. According to Texas DOT, the costs associated with the claims will cover the claimed damages, but are not related to the design issues.
- Settlement payments will be made in installments, including performance-based milestone payments that are based on the developer completing critical phases of the work, Texas DOT said in its statement. A milestone is to open the new bridge in the spring of 2025.
Diving knowledge:
The port’s new cable-stayed bridge, begun in 2016, was initially estimated to cost $803 million and open in 2020. However, since then there have been numerous delays and disagreements over costs related to the ‘acquisition of permits, the right of way, the COVID-19 Pandemic and replacement of the engineer of record. In addition, in April a project the crane caught fire and threw up debris on the floor belowinjuring two people at nearby Whataburger Field.
The biggest problems came last summer, when the Texas DOT warned that the project had design flaws so significant that “the bridge would collapse under certain load conditions” if completed as currently designed. citing an independent review in 2020. The Texas DOT halted work in July 2022 and in mid-August issued a default notice and threatened to fire contractors if several key items were not reworked.
Boulder, Colo.-based Flatiron and Madrid-based Dragados pledged to “do whatever it takes” to address the agency’s concerns and complete the project. The contractor will continue to fulfill its previous commitment to absorb all expenses related to mitigating these design issues, according to the release, and local entities will not incur any additional costs.
“Legal contractual disputes for a complex project of this magnitude can be costly and time-consuming. This settlement eliminates years of litigation and clears the way for work to continue to progress safely and uninterrupted on the new bridge,” said the engineer of Texas DOT Corpus Christi District Valente Olivarez Jr. in the statement.
The existing Harbor Bridge will be demolished in the spring of 2026 after the new span is completed, according to Texas DOT.
