Structure 121020050003305 · Harris County, TX

IH 45 Hov over IH 45 Ml

Carries IH 45 Hov over IH 45 Ml, 0.5 Mi SE Of SH 3/monroe.

Overall conditionGood

Set by its lowest-rated component: Deck and Superstructure and Substructure at 7 of 9.

How ratings work
Decksets the rating7/9 · Good
Superstructuresets the rating7/9 · Good
Substructuresets the rating7/9 · Good
0 failed4 poor6 fair9 excellent

Elevation

Side view, colored by inspection rating
SEMI-TRUCK · 72 FT2,328 FT OVERALL500 FT0ELEVATION · LENGTHS TO SCALE
Deck 7/9Superstructure 7/9Substructure 7/9

2,328 ft end to end, longest span 96 ft: about 6.5 football fields. Lengths and the semi-truck on the deck are drawn to the same scale. Each part is colored by its latest inspection rating. The inventory records lengths but not heights or the layout of the shorter spans, so those are drawn as typical for a multi-beam bridge.

Built199630 years old
Length2328.1 ft709.6 m
Daily traffic—reported figure implausible
Last inspectedAugust 2024every 24 months

Location

StateTexas
CountyHarris
Location0.5 Mi SE Of SH 3/monroe
CarriesIH 45 Hov
CrossesIH 45 Ml
Coordinates29.66317, -95.25841

Physical Characteristics

MaterialSteel
DesignStringer/Multi-beam
Total Length2328.1 ft (709.6 m)
Max Span96.1 ft (29.3 m)
Deck Width23.3 ft (7.1 m)
Deck Area5038.2 sq m
Main Spans3
Year Built1996

Traffic

Avg Daily Traffic132,815 (2020)
That is about 132,815 vehicles per lane per day — beyond what any U.S. road carries (the busiest freeways run about 25,000–30,000). It is almost certainly a data-entry error in the National Bridge Inventory, so we leave this bridge out of traffic rankings.
Truck Traffic9%
Lanes On Bridge1
Lanes Under Bridge8

Inspection & Ownership

Last InspectionAugust 2024
Inspection FrequencyEvery 24 months
OwnerState Highway Agency
Historical SignificanceBridge is not eligible for the National Register
Scour CriticalNot applicable
Structure Number121020050003305

How Bridge Ratings Work

Inspectors rate each major part of a bridge (the deck you drive on, the superstructure of beams that holds it up, and the substructure of piers and abutments beneath) on a 0–9 scale. A bridge's overall condition is its lowest of those ratings, so one deteriorated component makes the whole bridge "poor."

0Failed
1Imminent failure
2Critical
3Serious
4Poor
5Fair
6Satisfactory
7Good
8Very good
9Excellent
Good · lowest component 7–9
Fair · lowest component 5–6
Poor · lowest component 0–4

A poor rating is not a closure. It means the bridge is flagged for priority repair or replacement; bridges judged unsafe are closed or posted with weight limits. The waterway (channel) rating is reported, but it does not count toward the overall classification.

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