The 100-plus-year-old MKT Bridge in Houston, a well-liked pathway for pedestrians and cyclists, is closed for an indefinite period of time because the Texas Division of Transportation evaluates vital injury to the bridge after tools from a close-by building venture collided with it.
In line with TxDOT, a number of crane mats from a close-by building website alongside Interstate 10 have been swept away by rainwater final weekend, inflicting them to make contact with the the bridge columns. The crane mats have been getting used to permit cranes to maneuver over the muddy building website.
“Sadly, as a result of rain occasion over the weekend, the waters rose and picked up the mats which brought on them to drift towards the columns,” a TxDOT spokesperson instructed Houston Public Media on Friday. “When contact was made it brought on vital injury … sufficient for us to shut it as a security precaution till the required repairs are made.”
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A TxDOT spokesperson mentioned it’s unclear how lengthy the bridge will likely be closed, including {that a} restore plan ought to be prepared throughout the coming weeks.
The MKT Bridge is situated simply north of I-10 and is a part of the White Oak Bayou Greenway that hyperlinks downtown to the Heights neighborhood and different trails in Houston.
These utilizing trails close to the bridge can make the most of a detour outlined on the Bayou Greenways on-line map.
In 2022, the previous railroad bridge reopened after being closed for nearly two years to restore injury attributable to a hearth began beneath its wood body.
