TXDOT – The Neches River Bridge

Project: Cable Stay Blocks Neches River Bridge

Owner: Texas Department of Transportation

System: SCB Process

Area: Four Blocks

Completed: May, 1997

The Neches River Bridge was completed in the early 1990’s and stands next to the “Sunshine Bridge”, which was opened in the early 1950’s. The two bridges offer a marked contrast in the development of bridge design over the past 40 years.

The Neches River Bridge is a segmentally bonded, precast, cable stayed structure. In early 1997 during an inspection, engineers found cracks in the concrete “cable blocks” under the bridge structure. These blocks of concrete, measuring 7’2″ wide x 4’0″ thick x 6’8″ tall anchor the ends of the cables that “stay” the bridge structure.

Mobile Enterprises, Inc. crews entered a manhole in the center of the bridge and walked a catwalk 200′ each way under the bridge and injected 160 lineal feet of up to 1/4″ wide cracks in these cable stay blocks utilizing the SCB Process of pressure epoxy injection.

This process sealed the cracks, restored the original strength and encapsulated the cable ends in a weather tight environment, thus preventing any hazardous deterioration of the bridge support cables.