Freese and Nichols, Inc., will be expanding its role in the Trinity River Vision bridge project, with the Fort Worth City Council voting unanimously on Aug. 2 to approve paying the Fort Worth engineering consultant $405,491 to provide additional construction management services for the project.
Freese and Nichols, Inc., which designed the bridges, has already been providing construction management services for the project since 2015 but on a limited scope. According to a city staff report, the company will have a larger role “due to the complexity of the combined bridge project, the uniqueness of the bridge design (no similar bridges in the State of Texas) and unusual design elements,” such as the V-shaped piers, retaining walls and LED lighting system.
Back in March, Texas Department of Transportation spokesperson Val Lopez said the bridges had a “malfunction of design” that underestimated the amount of steel necessary to support the bridges’ piers. But according to Doug Rademaker, Trinity River Vision project manager at the City of Fort Worth, that report was incorrect and the project will be using less steel than originally planned.
The three bridges along North Main Street, Henderson Street and White Settlement Road will connect downtown to Panther Island, an 800-acre waterfront community. Construction on all three bridges is scheduled to finish in 2018.
In addition to expanding Freese and Nichols’ role, the city council also unanimously approved changing the name of the project’s form-based code district from “Trinity Uptown” to “Panther Island,” as well as change some design elements involving pavement materials and building height. The form-based code governs building design and land use within the development.
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