NEW HIGHWAY 105 BRIDGES EXPECTED TO OPEN TO TRAFFIC SOON
(Mark Whitehead)
TxDOT is planning to wrap up work soon on the Highway 105 bridge project between Brenham and Navasota.
Bob Colwell, Public Information Officer for TxDOT’s Bryan District, says TxDOT is expecting traffic to be shifted onto the new road toward the end of January. The project includes bridges over the Brazos River, Coles Creek, and Navasota River.
After the shift, Colwell says there will still be a few months to finish building the full width of the new road where it transitions into the existing road and demolishing the old bridge structures.
(Mark Whitehead)
The $34.4 million project began in September of 2014 and has seen numerous weather-related delays over the years, most recently stopping in 2017 due to Hurricane Harvey. The project resumed in the summer of 2019.
I seriously doubt the new highway and bridges will be open anytime soon. The Cole’s creek bridge is still without concrete guardrails over the North half of the bridge. There is rebar sticking out and no forms in sight. These have been demolished due to failure of the original concrete. Even the North and South ends that lead onto the bridge are getting some major concrete rework, which has already been reworked once before. Unless they are adding special bonding and curing chemicals to the concrete, the new concrete will take up to a month to properly cure. By the way, this bridge was the first to be completed, but has been in rework stage since 2016. This project actually started in 2012, and kicked off in 2014. It’s been over 6 years of construction. How many miles and bridges were completed on the Hwy 99 toll road during this time?