A bridge over Cow Creek along RM 1431 in Northwest AGÕæÈË°Ù¼ÒÀÖ County is open again â€� nearly a month ahead of schedule. The 240-foot bridge, which connects Lago Vista to Marble Falls, had to be completely reconstructed after it was destroyed by floodwaters on July 5.
"Ultimately, there's one thing about bridges, and that is, it connects communities; it connects people," Gov. Greg Abbott said at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new bridge on Tuesday. "Because this bridge, that was decimated by the worst flooding episode the state has ever had, was completed so quickly, it will ensure that we will reconnect the people, reconnect the communities and get things back to normal for all the people who were affected by this process."
The Texas Department of Transportation invoked several emergency procedures to expedite the reconstruction of the bridge, including offering the builder extra payments on top of the $4 million dollar contract to work fast.
Hunter Industries completed the job, which typically takes months, in just 29 days, earning a $1 million bonus from TxDOT.
"These guys were out here 24/7. They normally work 8-, 10-, 12-hour days. But it's not 'around the clock' type of construction," TxDOT's Austin District Engineer Tucker Ferguson said. "It shows the importance that we placed on this and the contractor placed on it."
Ferguson said TxDOT was also able to expedite the process by using concrete beams allocated for a different project in the construction of the new bridge. He said designing and making those types of beams would typically take around four to six months.
"To do this in a month's time frame, there's no way we would have been able to do it without finding those beams on another project and then designing this bridge around those beam sizes," Ferguson said.
He also pointed out that the new bridge is wider and taller than the old one.
The new crossing includes 12-foot travel lanes, a two-foot striped median and six-foot shoulders on both sides. At its highest point, it's around five feet higher than the previous bridge, allowing more water to flow underneath.
"The one that was washed away was built in 1960, so obviously, over the last 50 to 60 years, the standards have changed," Ferguson said. "It's a bridge that's going to last many, many years."
