As Father Time marches on and Mother Nature continues to provide challenges for most of what mankind considered indestructible when their ideas were conceived and the abstract became reality, rest assure nothing last forever and those living in the era that witnessed the construction of this bridge starting in 1956 and those of us that have known this bridge as the only reasonable route to get across the bay will also witness its demolition and the beginning of something new. Future generations will view the faded photos and read about this amazing structure but will never experience the feelings or have the memories that this bridge has provided for the past 56 years. The city of Corpus Christi moves one step closer to replacing the iconic Harbor Bridge that connects Corpus to nearby Portland across Corpus Christi and Nueces Bays slated for 2017 so the fate of this bridge has been determined as was the draw bridge before it. The Harbor Bridge is a World War II design, so it’s safe to say the new bridge won’t resemble this bridge in any shape or form, early designs show a ultra modern structure that will carry traffic across the bay far into the next century and the design will be engineered to perform hopefully they understand the new bridge will become a part of the city’s skyline and signature and will represent the city for generations to come so they need to get it right. The new bridge will be taller than the existing one as the ships get bigger so do the bridges. The current bridge is 138 feet tall, and the new one will be 205 feet tall. It could be a cable-stayed suspension bridge to counteract the salt water that has been creating havoc on the current steel bridge structure. I expect it to be similar to the Skyway bridge connecting St. Pete with Tampa, Florida carrying a price tag exceeding a billion dollars so don’t rule out a toll.
