RIO HONDO — Work on the closed Rio Hondo bridge is continuing with workers sandblasting paint off the 63-year-old structure.
Texas Department of Transportation engineer Andres Espinosa described the procedure to board members of the Harlingen-San Benito Metropolitan Planning Organization this past week.
Pointing to a photo of workers wearing goggles and facemasks surrounded by what looked like a long white tent, Espinosa said the work is tricky and time-consuming because of the Arroyo Colorado below.
“They have this technique of sandblasting using grit to remove the paint from the bridge,” Espinosa said. “Everything they actually remove from the bridge has to be captured, and cannot go into the waterway.”
The contract workers use two hoses, one to blast the paint with the grit, and the other to recover the grit for re-use, he said.
“It’s specialized work that they’re doing out there, it takes a little more time to do it,” Espinosa said, adding, “It gets pretty hot” inside the tent.
Work on the mechanical lift bridge has cut Rio Hondo in half, and it will remain that way for an estimated six to eight months, officials have said. They concede the possibility that retrofitting the unique structure could take even longer.
The $12 million retrofit of the landmark yellow bridge, which opened in 1953, poses challenges to engineers and contractors because it is the only such mechanical lift bridge in Texas.
Rio Hondo officials say there are only two others like it in the country, in California and in Louisiana. The Louisiana bridge no longer raises and lowers, merely serving as a fixed crossing.
It’s about a five-mile transit to get from one side of Rio Hondo to the other.
