A City of Many Bridges

Dallas has another moniker,the City of Bridges and I don't mean Maggie 1 and Maggie 2 only. There are some 5,000 bridges in the Dallas area according to one Tex Dot estimate. The High 5 added 43 alone. So that got me to thinking. With the work on the High 5 complete, the LBJ Express pretty much done and the I-35 length of 28 miles of re-work plus the Horseshoe Project of the Mix master. The cost totals estimated are from Tex Dots project pages.

Dallas High 5 at $288 Million

I-35E  length  $4.8 Billion

Horseshoe Project $798 Million

That is a combined total of $5.886 Billion of new updated Highways  and I could not find the published cost on the first wave of the LBJ Express Project. It was possible to find how the tolls would be priced, however and some very neat graphics of the total number of lanes and sub-lanes for the project.

Realizing that money comes from all kinds of avenues from Federal to State etc.,etc., the totals do come out about what the news media reported initially when announcing the projects. This isn't about cost anyway. That is an interesting sidebar to the fact that Texans should be proud that they are riding on some of the best and most up-to-day highways in the nation while other states are talking about the vast need to do what Texans have been busy doing the past 15 years.

Recalling that morning that I made the last exit on the old LBJ at U.S. 75 ramp. The big drilling machines were on the clover leaf  to drill the footings for the big green columns. They now make up the 710 columns of the Dallas High 5. Even today, I recall that old clover leaf going north on Central Expressway to westbound LBJ 635. That evening, the exit was closed and detours were rerouted and I can still locate where eventually the one big green column ended up being in that cloverleaf. I will post those in addition to this post since I can only post three images at a time.

Sunday, I drove the new I-30 bridge that now is the Margaret McDermott bridge with the north arch now in place for the very first time. The pictures that follow are from the High 5, the LBJ Express and the I-35E at LBJ 635 and the Horseshoe and the Maggie 2 bridge.

LBJ635 at I-35E

LBJ 635 between Dallas High 5 and I-35E. Officially known as the LBJ Express Project 

The Horseshoe Project which is a remake of the Mix master and new bridges and lanes over the Trinity with the Santiago Calatrava Signature Bridge 2 to be know as the Margaret McDermott Bridge. Also, for ease of ID of the two Margaret Bridges, the McDermott bridge is dubbed Maggie 2 while the Margaret Hunt Hill is known as the Maggie 1. Dubbed for two reasons. First, by chronology in construction and second by the number of arches,  which both co-inside perfectly.

Maggie 2 Update

It's been a while since this photographer was actually on site at the Maggie 2. One, it's been two wet and two, nothing exciting was taking place after the first, or south, arch was in place. While there has been some street photography from the Continental bridge park, keeping an eye on the Maggie 2 was also happening. As in any major construction project, things do not happen by logic. They happen as a result of logic. Upon closer examination of some old shots, it was clear that the cables had not been hung or were in the initial stages of being hung on the south arch. Logical; necessary, but non-glamorous for the camera's eye.

It now appears that some of the basic prep work is now happening on the north arch and things are beginning to get exciting once again as the second arch takes shape and changes the skyline once again. One must also remember that the work on the Maggie 2 will be much different than on the Maggie 1 in as much as the design is fundamentally different (Maggie 1 is a cable stayed bridge) and the Maggie 2 will have features of a suspension bridge. There is a big difference in the two structural designs. Needless-to-say, there is at least another years work on the bridge give or take a month or two--or three! But, also remembering the good point is going to be a pedestrian and bike section on the Maggie 2 that is not allowed on the Maggie 1.

So, here are a few 'at distant' shots of the Maggie 2 (Margaret McDermott Bridge).

Maggie 2 with the north transition piece in place

The next pieces are in position to be lifted and rest on the blue towers until  cabled.

The cables on the south arch running from top to bottom under the arch to the bridge decking.

Maggie One and Maggie Two

When the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge was announced several years ago, one thinks what's in the name? In this case it was a Hunt as in Hunt Oil or the patriarch of the Hunt family and beautiful Mt. Vernon ( an exact duplicate of the original) home at White Rock Lake.  But admittedly, even with searching for some help, when the second bridge was announced and the name was Margaret McDermott, it was a bit more work to burn an image on my mind. Philanthropist. Now it rings a bell.

True, the movers and the shakers of Dallas are all involved with the bridge project as it is part of the Trinity River Corridor Project, a non-profit to development along the Trinity River. And some of those movers and shakers can be found on the board of the Trinity River Corridor Project.

While the Margaret McDermott bridge has been downsized ( it's now, just the Margaret McDermott  bike and pedestrian portion ) and was almost axed when the economy went farther down river, it was saved after TxDOT said that the bridge over I-30 would be built, even if they had to do the engineering. That jolted a few and it wasn't long until a deal was reached to scale back but never-the-less still have Santiago Calatrava design the walkways and bikeways across the second bridge.

 Actually, the feeling is that Margaret McDermott got the better part of the deal in that the bridge is over the Trinity on a major interstate highway. It will have a pedestrian

The unofficial start to work on Maggie Two

The completed Maggie One

Note the angle of the boring on Maggie Two

and bike crossing that Maggie One doesn't have and it will be more in the center of activity when the project is complete. Sometimes, second in number isn't really that bad of a deal.

So, yesterday, while looking at the work that had been done since August when the equipment first appeared on scene, pilings are never a pretty part of the job, but they are the "bedrock" of the project (pardon the pun) the call of the Nikon hit me. When Maggie One was being built, over 100 weekends were spent photographing the construction process. That weighed heavy when the thought of another long-term project registered on the brain. The purpose of the trip yesterday was to stand on the west levee where Maggie One could be seen in its completed state and then look at downtown from where this project was digging into the ground (another non-intended pun) and get a feel if it would be worth the effort.

 There is a whole lot of satisfaction in one of these projects but not a whole lot of money, if any when you factor in gas, time and added dust and dirt to be cleaned from a camera professionally. It does cost money to do one of these things. As my maternal grandmother once told me: "Nothing in life is ever, ever free." She was very right on target and that phrase still rings out in me even today. To document changes in an urban setting can be rewarding. It also can be a drain on emotions, resources of time and money not to mention aches and pains, cuts and scratches. heat stroke and many more.

But, as I stood on the levee looking at the workers going about the daily task of such a project and looking back at Maggie One, then the future Maggie Two, it was realized that I had to give it a shot, or two, since another pun worked its way in the text. While this is kind  of written tongue and cheek, it is urban history that can make a difference, even if that difference is ever so small. Much like the history that answered a question just two years ago about where Air Force One had been parked at Love Field when Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as President. It was a photo that gave the answer. An urban photo. Lots was learned in doing the Maggie One Project. Certainly, more can be learned from the Maggie Two. Provided health and money issues remain status quo.

So, Maggie One :  Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge (complete and open)
       Maggie Two: Margaret McDermott Bridge ( unofficially under way, August,2013 )


Link: http://dallascityhall.com/committee_briefings/trinity_river.html

Link: http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philanthropy

12/29/13: correction of omitted text.