Mistakes happen.
This week Harris County Commission voted to scrap the parts of a Beltway 8 bridge over the Houston Ship Channel already built and go back to the drawing board: a costly error. The design was faulty, according to a Houston Chronicle report.
FIGG Bridge Group won the contract and was trying a new idea when work began in 2018. It didn’t work. They were going to build the bridge on the ground and then lift it into place with cranes.
In 2019 another firm was hired to look at the plans and found 21 design flaws.
It’s going to cost $50 million to demolish the portions already erected, and then another $291 to start from scratch with a new build.
The first span is expected to be finished in 2025, and the second span completed in 2027.
photo: Getty Images