HOUSTON The most expensive single project in Harris County history is in limbo after commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday night to fire the designer of the $1 billion Houston Ship Channel Replacement Bridge. A vote to hire a replacement designer is scheduled for the next Harris County Commissioners Court in September. Selecting FIGG Bridge EngineersHarris County hired FIGG Bridge Engineers to design the bridge in 2013 and approved the final design in 2017, Ed Emmett said, who served as county judge at the time. The decision to hire FIGG initially by the (Harris County) Toll Road Authority was a reasonable thing to do, he said. Harris County Commissioners plan to hire a new bridge designer, likely COWI, the firm that conducted the independent review.

HOUSTON – Following 20 months of construction of the new Ship Channel Bridge along the Beltway 8, the county has issued a pause. Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia said the decision was made following the discovery of a design flaw with part of the bridge. The discovery of the flaw was made by COWI, an independent consulting firm hired by the county in 2019, to oversee the construction project following the deadly collapse of a pedestrian bridge in 2018. Figg bridge engineers who designed the bridge in Miami, are the same designers of the Ship Channel Bridge. The findings caused TxDot to suspend a bridge project designed by Figg.