IronTiger Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 I've been reading some articles (many behind paywalls) about the state of the Pelican Island Bridge in Galveston. As you may know, earlier posts by me on the subject indicate that in 2005, I was fascinated by the railroad paralleling it (though components were already gone in 2005, and sometime post-Ike, the abandoned railroad leading up to it was stripped out: the line is on an extremely tight R.O.W. with not much room on the waterside or the road side. So upon realization that the bridge dates to 1959, and that the bridge is in poor condition, I have a few questions: 1) How bad a condition is the old bridge, anyway? Some scouring damage was mentioned, and studies are due for revealing more damage. 2) This article discussed a railroad bridge out there as well. Given that the last trains probably went there in the 1980s and the line post-bridge is completely gone (and has been for many many years), what would they need a railroad out there for anyway? 3) Are the elevated viaducts the same age? 4) What do you think the turn-out will be? Personally, I could imagine a new bridge going out to Pelican Island with the old one closed to vehicular traffic and used as a pedestrian/bikeway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 (edited) The bridge to Pelican Island is definitely in pretty rough shape. I remember going over that bridge a lot when I was at Texas A&M Galveston for a year (or 1/2 year because of Ike). I remember that bridge was always very bumpy and the draw bridge isn't that great either. With all the new development efforts made by A&M Galveston post-Ike as part of there master plan I curious as to why new infrastructure hasn't been put in place for the increased use of the bridge. I would imagine it's been on the back shelf because they been focusing on Downtown and the Seawall as major areas of development and even though Pelican Island is mosquito infested marsh that sucks to live on....it's going to be developed a lot in the coming years for sure. The elevated viaducts that lead up to the bridge are either around the same age or a couple decades younger I'm not too sure, but I would say the latter of the two. By the way, they still run trains to Galveston Island. That large rail yard and everything is a major help to the port and is used very frequently. In fact they did a fabulous job of completely redoing the elevated bridge station (where they lift the bridge up for ship traffic thats right next to the main car bridge). No trains go to Pelican Island though and I don't remember them ever going to that area at all. This is just my 2 cents on the matter and my experience....not a bridge expert or foremost in knowledge pertaining to Galveston infrastructure. Edited June 2, 2014 by Luminare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted June 2, 2014 Author Share Posted June 2, 2014 (edited) I understand trains still run to Galveston island, but they ran to Pelican Island too, which is what the article was discussing. Trains haven't run to Pelican Island in decades, of course, though I screencapped some pictures of Google Street View, as seen on my old blog here, a nearly four-year-old post that's describing something that I remember from almost a decade ago (wow, it's been that long??) The point is, there seems to be talk that they want to build a railroad line as part of the new Pelican Island bridge, which is weird, as I mentioned before, as there's no infrastructure in that direction as it was torn out decades ago. Edited June 2, 2014 by IronTiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 Barge hit the Pelican Island Bridge. https://abc13.com/post/pelican-island-causeway-barge-hits-bridge-galveston-county-streaming-updates-from-houston-texas/14820281/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 Looks like the barge only damaged the train portion of the bridge. Barge looks fully loaded too. "Cars were being allowed to cross the Pelican Island Bridge in Galveston one at a time on Wednesday afternoon, hours after a barge hit one of the span's support causing a partial collapse." https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/galveston/article/pelican-island-bridge-galveston-closed-barge-19459650.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 Opened in 1960, the Pelican Island Causeway Bridge was rated as “Poor” according to the Federal Highway Administration’s 2023 National Bridge Inventory released last June. The overall rating of a bridge is based on whether the condition of any of its individual components — the deck, superstructure, substructure or culvert, if present — is rated poor or below. In the case of the Pelican Island Causeway Bridge, inspectors rated the deck in “Satisfactory Condition,” the substructure in “Fair Condition” and the superstructure — or the component that absorbs the live traffic load — in “Poor Condition.” The Texas Department of Transportation had been scheduled in the summer of 2025 to begin construction on a project to replace the bridge with a new one. The project was estimated to cost $194 million. In documents provided during a virtual public meeting last year, the department said the bridge has “reached the end of its design lifespan, and needs to be replaced.” The agency said it has spent over $12 million performing maintenance and repairs on the bridge in the past decade. The bridge has one main steel span that measures 164 feet, and federal data shows it was last inspected in December 2021. However, it’s unclear from the data if a state inspection took place after the Federal Highway Administration compiled the data. The bridge had an average daily traffic figure of about 9,100, according to a 2011 estimate. https://weather.com/news/climate/news/2024-05-15-texas-barge-hits-bridge-galveston-oil-spill?cm_ven=hp-slot-1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texan Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 The bridge is closed again. TAMUG is currently closed through Sunday. https://www.tamug.edu/newsroom/2024articles/pelicanislandbridge.html 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted May 18 Share Posted May 18 The Pelican Island Causeway bridge reopened for pedestrians Friday after a barge hit it a few days prior, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Officials say the bridge was available for pedestrians at around 5 p.m. Friday after a barge broke loose from a tug boat just before Wednesday morning. The Texas Department of Transportation assessed the bridge's condition on Friday. The bridge will be closed to all vehicle traffic, except emergency services, while repairs are being done. https://abc13.com/post/pelican-island-causeway-bridge-when-will-open-for-pedestrians-closed-due-to-vehicle-traffic-barge-slams-into/14834758/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted May 19 Share Posted May 19 The U.S. Coast Guard announced that the Pelican Island Causeway bridge will reopen for vehicles on Saturday night after repairs from Wednesday's barge collision. https://abc13.com/post/pelican-island-causeway-bridge-barge-when-will-open-for-cars-vehicle-traffic/14839562/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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