Higher than the rest, check out these videos featuring some of Houston’s coolest bridges

City of Houston workers walk along a wet, muddy, low stretch of Allen Parkway near downtown Houston, Wednesday, May 27, 2015. Heavy rains and flooding have kept the section closed to traffic. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

Even with a few flaws, Texas’ infrastructure is a modern marvel.

Videos by Rare

The Hi-Five interchange where LBJ Freeway and Hwy 75 connect is shown with vehicles trying to navigate the icy road conditions, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013, in Dallas.  (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Especially its bridges.

Two structures, foreground, are flooded up to their roof by surge from Hurricane Ike as the bridges that lead to Bridge City are seen at rear, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008, in Port Arthur, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

RELATED: Watching this interesting video on the history of the Loop will help you appreciate that stop-and-go traffic you’re stuck in on 610

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, there are more than 53,000 traffic bridges across the state, and the agency is committed to preserving the environment, local culture, and functional utility of the connectors.

Houston is home to some of the most recognizable and highest structures providing these utilities, including the Waugh Bridge over Bayou Park, which is home to an estimated 250,000 bats.

In addition to traffic utility, TxDOT makes it a priority to provide designated structures to replace natural wildlife habitats lost to urbanization, such as the artificial concrete roosts incorporated into many bridge designs to accommodate Texas’ large bat population.

Perhaps the most recognizable bridge around Houston is the Fred Hartman Bridge, the longest cable-stayed bridge in Texas and 77th largest bridge in the world.

Originally designed to replace the Baytown Tunnel when the Houston Ship Channel was deepened by 45 feet, the bridge opened to traffic in 1995 and has been an iconic landmark ever since.

But the bridge known for its height in the Houston area is Ship Channel Bridge in Pasadena, standing with nearly 175 feet of clearance below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM2dqR5Aa-s

The Fred Hartman Baytown Bridge and Ship Channel Bridge are actually about the same height in below clearance, and the two may becoming more similar in the next few years.

With more than 1,000 bridges rated ‘structurally deficient’ across Texas, including around 30 heavy traffic bridges in Houston, rumors of replacing the Ship Channel Bridge with a cable suspension structure, like its Baytown Ship Channel neighbor, have been churning some troubled water.

Still prospective at this time, TxDOT spent over $525 million during the last fiscal year maintaining, replacing, rehabilitating, and constructing new bridges, and the construction may truly be a never ending commitment.

 

 

Safety remains the state’s highest priority.

REALTED: Because I-45 wasn’t bad enough, TxDOT just approved a $1.3 billion construction project to literally move the major traffic artery

For more information on the bridges we take for granted everyday, visit txdot.gov.

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