U.S. Section of Bridge OK'd

The Monitor By James Osborne

McALLEN – City officials awarded a $28.5 million contract Monday to build the U.S. portion of the Anzalduas International Bridge. Project plans call for building a 9,200-foot-long, four-lane concrete span running from Farm-to-Market Road 494 near Granjeno to the U.S.-Mexico boundary in the middle of the Rio Grande, where it will meet Mexico’s half of the bridge project. George Ramon, a member of the Anzalduas International Bridge Board, said last week he expected Mexico to award their construction contract on May 11. If all goes as planned, the bridge would be open by summer 2009. Houston-based Williams Brothers Construction won the U.S. contract, beating out three others with bids as high as $43.6 million. The contract is conditional, awaiting, among other things, the exchange of a final diplomatic note between the United States and Mexico to set the construction schedule. “This is very good news,” said McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez. “We were concerned (the price) would come in a lot higher. But, it’s a very good price from a good firm.” Monday’s announcement represents what should be one of the final stages in a decade-long effort to build a bridge on the border between Mission and McAllen and alleviate traffic back-ups at the Upper Rio Grande Valley’s international bridges. The Anzalduas Bridge is slated to receive commercial traffic once the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge reaches capacity at 15,000 trucks a week, which is expected to happen within the next two years. The contract for the center span of the bridge, which directly sits on the international boundary, will be opened up for bid to Williams Brothers and the company Mexico selects to build its section. Williams Brothers has already bid $571,000 for construction of that section, the contract for which it is expected will be awarded later this year.

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