High Quality
Open the downloaded document, and select print from the file menu (PDF reader required).
City
of
Dallas
ANGELA
HUNT
Dallas
City
Councilmember
-
District
14
November
24,
2009
Mr.
Troy
D.
Collins,
P.E.
Deputy
District
Engineer
&
Chief,
Programs
&
Project
Management
Division
U.S.
Army
Corps
of
Engineers,
Fort
Worth
District
P.O.
Box
17300
Fort
Worth,
TX
76102
VIA
FACSIMILE
(817-886-6451)
Re:
Margaret
Hunt-Hill
Bridge
Dear
Mr.Collins:
As
I
mentioned
in
our
telephone
conversation
lastweek,
I
am
concerned
by
thehaste
withwhich
the
Texas
Department
of
Transportation
hasasked
the
U.S.
Army
Corpsof
Engineerstoreviewand
approvetheir
designmodificationsfor
theMargaret
Hunt-HillBridge.
As
you
areaware,thesupport
piersfor
the
bridge’s
approach
ramps
penetrate
Dallas’
east
and
west
flood
protection
levees.
Due
to
the
multiplelevee
perforations,
remedial
effortsmust
be
carefully
engineered
to
protectthe
integrityof
the
leveesand
ensuretheir
stabilityduring
a
flood
event.
Afterproviding
the
Corps
with
theirremediation
plans
the
first
weekofNovember
2009,
both
TxDOT
and
the
City
of
Dallas
have
publicly
stated
that
theyrequire
quick
approvalfrom
the
Corps
to
meetthe
bridge’s
constructiondeadlines,
which
are
wholly
unrelated
to
the
function
ofthe
levees
as
Dallas’
primary
protection
from
catastrophic
flooding.
In
a
November
14
Dallas
Morning
News
article,
TxDOT’s
chief
engineer
in
Dallas
stated
“I’ve
let
the
corps
know
that
we
would
really
like
an
answer
by
December
1.
Otherwise,
I
will
have
a
tough
decisionto
make
aboutwhether
to
sever
thepart
of
thecontract
that
includes
the
[bridge]
approaches.”
In
addition,
the
article
reported
the
City
of
Dallas’
Trinity
River
Project
manager
as
saying
“I
think
the
corps
will
move
quickly.
This
isa
high
priority
becausethey
know
that
TxDOT
is
really
up
against
a
deadline.”
This
pressuretoapprovethechanges
to
the
bridge’s
design
comesdespitethe
fact
that
a
geotechnicalexpert
also
quoted
in
thesame
DMN
article
characterizedtheremediation
plan
and
associateddocuments
“as
not
being
quite
as
complete
a
document
as
the
corpswould
want
to
have.”
0FFCE
OF
THE
CITY
COUNcIL
1500
MARLLA,ROOM
SFNDALLAS
TEXAS75201
TELEPHONE
214/670-5415
FAX
214/E70-1847
Add a Comment