Corven Engineering, an H&H company, is providing engineering design quality control for engineering and plan modifications for the replacement of the Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridges. The main span unit of the new Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge (HSC Bridge) will replace the existing three-span concrete box girder bridge on the Sam Houston Parkway near Beltway 8 in Houston, TX. The main span unit consists of a 2,720-foot-long cable-stayed concrete segmental deck bridge with spans of 240 feet, 460 feet, and 1,320 feet.
The superstructure of the main span consists of two independent precast concrete segmental box girders, each 81′-9″ wide, each carrying one-directional traffic (northbound and southbound, respectively). A gap of approximately 10 feet separates the two box girders. Each box girder is supported by two planes of stay cables. Longitudinal post-tensioning, along with horizontal components of the stay cables, are used to maintain deck compression. Post-tensioning is also used to control stresses in the transverse components of the box girder segments.
The substructure of the new main span unit consists of reinforced columns and pylons resting on reinforced concrete footings. The foundations of the bridge consist of large-diameter drilled shafts.
The new bridges will be the centerpiece of a program to widen the Sam Houston Tollway. They will provide eight lanes for vehicular traffic and more than 187 feet of vertical clearance for navigation, allowing future widening and deepening of the channel by the Port of Houston. The southbound bridge will be constructed next to the existing bridge. The existing northbound bridge will be reconstructed after the southbound side is complete.
