- The San Jacinto Bridge over I-10, which was badly damaged by Imelda, is undergoing repairs. (Photo Credit: Lucio Vasquez/Houston Public Media)
- The San Jacinto Bridge, which was badly damaged by Imelda, has been closed for repairs. (Photo Credit: Lucio Vasquez/Houston Public Media)
- A member of the unified command operations section inspects damage to the I-10 San Jacinto River bridge near Channelview, Texas, Sept. 21, 2019. (Photo Credit: U.S. Coast Guard)
- The San Jacinto Bridge, which was badly damaged by Imelda, has been closed for repairs. (Photo Credit: Lucio Vasquez/Houston Public Media)
- The San Jacinto Bridge, which was badly damaged by Imelda, undergoing repairs. (Photo Credit: Lucio Vasquez/Houston Public Media)
TxDOT says it has completed most of its preliminary inspections at the I-10 bridge over the San Jacinto River. The bridge has been closed since last week when it was hit by multiple barges during Tropical Storm Imelda's floods.
TxDOT's Emily Black said bridge engineers are now going through inspection data to decide the best course of action. They're been working to determine if the eastbound span is stable enough to carry two-way traffic while the westbound span is repaired.
Black said it appears the eastbound bridge is in good condition "but we need to get through all of that data before we can definitively say that it is safe to put traffic on there."
Black said the plan is to have two lanes of traffic on the eastbound span with no shoulder.
"We are cutting through some permanent barriers there to open that up so we can have a seamless merge onto the eastbound bridge structure," explained Black.
As for repairing the westbound span, Black says design teams will come up with a plan and they can't really say right now how long that work will take.
While the bridge is totally closed, detours remain in place:
• Westbound detour: SH 146 to SH 225
• Eastbound detour: IH 610 to SH 225 to SH 146
