Frederick Gottemoeller - Bridgescape LLC

"Bridges exemplify different things to different people: strength, safety, durability, grace, beauty ... and awareness of place. They become icons in the community and represent its values and commitments to leadership, public service and quality of life. Visually, they can have a breathtaking impact on a city's skyline silhouette." So began our team's proposal to design, build and operate a new bridge over Corpus Christi's harbor entrance. The proposal responds to the community's interest in both the functional and symbolic contributions that the new bridge will make to the future of Corpus Christi, even at night. Innovative lighting would make it an icon visible for miles across the flat countryside and out to the Gulf of Mexico.

The new bridge will provide sufficient marine clearance for PanaMax vessels, and carry 6 lanes of traffic and the first pedestrian/bicycle connection across the harbor. The team's proposal is a cable stayed structure with a 1520' main span. Thin 517 ft. tall towers support four planes of stay cables. The towers are split vertically to reduce their apparent mass, emphasize their thinness and improve their aerodynamic performance. The split would make them unique in the world. The split towers inspire an architectural theme that is incorporated in all members of the "family of piers" that support the approach viaducts on each side of the harbor crossing. The result would be project-wide visual consistency and a reminder of the towers even from locations where they are not visible.