HOUSTON — One of Houston’s most delayed and costly infrastructure projects is approaching a pivotal milestone as construction over the Houston Ship Channel is expected to begin later this year.
.webp)
The Beltway 8 Sam Houston Tollway Ship Channel Bridge — a $1.3 billion replacement project and the most expensive single project in Harris County’s history — is scheduled to begin work over the navigable waterway in May 2026, according to a local notice to mariners issued by the U.S. Coast Guard’s Navigation Center. The work is expected to continue through November.
The Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) cautioned, however, that the dates listed in the notice should not be interpreted as a firm construction schedule.
“The dates identified in the Maritime Safety Information are not a construction timeline. Those dates only reflect activity that may impact vessels traveling in the Ship Channel,” wrote Tracy Jackson, assistant director of communications with the Harris County Toll Road Authority, in an email to Chron. “As project schedule updates occur, they will be noted on the project page.”
The bridge project has faced repeated setbacks since construction first began in April 2018 under engineering firm and contractor FIGG Bridge Group — the same year a FIGG-designed pedestrian bridge collapsed in Miami, killing six people.
In 2019, Harris County hired COWI North America Inc. to review FIGG’s original designs. The review uncovered 21 “significant” design flaws, forcing construction to halt and triggering a major reassessment of the project.
County commissioners ultimately voted in December 2021 to demolish and rebuild portions of the bridge, resulting in a $291 million setback. FIGG was removed from the project, and COWI joined Ship Channel Constructors to complete a comprehensive redesign.
The revised plans dramatically increased material requirements, calling for nearly three times as much concrete and more than eight times the steel rebar compared with the original design. Construction resumed in October 2022 after a more than 20-month pause.
.jpg)
The new bridge is being built in two phases, starting with the southbound span, followed by the northbound structure. From April through September 2024, traffic on the existing southbound bridge was reduced to allow crews to stage equipment and perform nearby work safely.
Once the first new span opens — currently projected for 2026 — traffic in both directions will shift onto the new structure while the original bridge is demolished.
The eight-lane toll bridge will include four 12-foot lanes with full shoulders in each direction, 514-foot-tall pylons, a 1,320-foot main span, and a 175-foot clearance to accommodate large vessels passing below. HCTRA has said the project is designed to improve safety, visibility, capacity, and traffic efficiency.
Construction outside the navigable channel is expected to continue through May 2026. Once work begins directly over the Houston Ship Channel, mariners will be advised to navigate the area with extreme caution due to overhead construction activity.
“The rebuilding of the Ship Channel Bridge began in 2018 and there are still a couple more phases to go before completion,” Jackson wrote in an email to Chron. “Bridge construction is inherently complex and prone to schedule adjustments because of a multitude of factors.”
The HCTRA estimates that more than 60,000 vehicles use the bridge daily — a figure projected to nearly triple by 2035. As one of the region’s most critical transportation links, the bridge’s long-awaited progress is being closely watched by commuters, maritime operators, and local officials alike.
Despite the troubled history, the upcoming construction phase represents a major step forward in completing a project that has become a symbol of both Houston’s infrastructure ambitions and the challenges of building at scale over one of the nation’s busiest shipping corridors.
Originally reported by Molly Wilhelm,Trending Reporter in Chron.
