June 2004

(Corpus Christi, Texas) – Zachry plans to complete a $39 million expansion of the JFK Causeway in mid-August. The Texas Department of Transportation awarded the contract to Zachry, and crews began work to elevate and widen the causeway, in February 2002. The expansion will provide a quicker route off the island to the Corpus Christi mainland in the event of a hurricane or tropical storm. The JFK links North Padre Island to the Texas mainland.

The majority of the JFK Causeway was widened by 100 feet into a 160-foot-wide, four-lane divided highway, with a contra flow lane for use during emergency evacuation. The new section is raised eight feet above the old roadway, for a total average elevation of 13 feet above sea level. The crews also added a new West Bridge, and they demolished and reconstructed the bridge spanning Humble Channel.

The construction of the new Humble Bridge, which has an increased elevation of five feet above the old bridge, presented challenges for the Zachry crew. Due to space limitations, the crew had to set the bridge beams from barges in the channel. Plus, the team had to drive piles from barges in the channel while constructing caps, and removing existing piles and old caps, from floating work platforms.

“This job presented a lot of challenges because the majority of the work was conducted over water,” said Project Manager Sam White.

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