CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The old Harbor Bridge has been a defining part of the city’s skyline since 1959, but this week, crews began the long process of taking it down.
Dozens of people lined the grass at the Corpus Christi Water Gardens, pulling out lawn chairs and cameras to capture the bridge’s final moments standing tall.
“It’s just a lot of memories back and forth from Portland, and it’s going to be sad to see it go,” neighbor, Paige Rabbe, said.
She and her husband watched for hours as crews worked through the day on the bridge.
“This is a historic monument and it’s history here,” added Rafael Savantes. “When are we going to see it again? It’s got a lot of memories for Corpus Christi.”
Built in 1959, the Harbor Bridge served the community for more than 60 years, connecting downtown to North Beach and becoming a symbol for the city’s growth and identity.
Now, its removal marks the next step in the $1.3 billion Harbor Bridge Replacement Project, which will make way for larger ships to move through the Port of Corpus Christi and allow full operation of the new bridge nearby.
According to the Texas Department of Transportation, preparations to lower the bridge’s center span began Saturday but took longer than expected. The barge Prometheus, which is positioned in the ship channel to receive the span, was temporarily moved Monday to allow vessel traffic to resume.
TxDOT said the barge will return later today, with crews expected to resume lowering operations early Tuesday morning and complete the task by late afternoon. Once removed, the center span will be transported to a dock at the Port of Corpus Christi’s inner harbor for dismantling.
“It’s a first-class engineering project,” neighbor, Rueben Welsh, said. “For them to accomplish this takes an unbelievable amount of skill and patience.”
Some visitors even traveled from out of town to witness the moment.
“Today, with the bridge going down, I told my wife, since we’re both retired, this would be a perfect day to see the world change,” Jeff Hosek, said, who traveled from San Antonio. Future demolition phases will remove the north and south approaches to the bridge later this year.
While an official date for full removal hasn’t been set, for many in Corpus Christi, this week’s work marks the beginning of the end for one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks.
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