Turtle Creek Bridge Emergency Repair

One Fourth of July holiday, half of this bridge spanning a canal collapsed and the other half was headed for failure. With the bridge providing essential access to a nearby elementary school, Missouri City appealed to IDS to achieve the near impossible – reopen the bridge before the school year started. Repairing the old boxcars that formed the bridge’s base wasn’t feasible, and traditional concrete and steel construction would take too long. IDS worked with contractors to devise a quicker solution – a single, pre-engineered aluminum structure measuring 20 by 8 by 80 feet. A crane installed the 20,000-pound culvert span in just 15 minutes, enabling work to proceed on the headwalls and back filling. The entire project was completed in just six weeks, with only one week for design. The Texas sections of the American Council of Engineering Companies and American Public Works Association recognized the project with engineering design awards for its innovative fast-track approach.