---
title: "Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge – Houston, Texas"
url: "https://www.systra.com/ibt/project/sam-houston-ship-channel-bridge-houston-texas/"
type: projects
date_published: 2025-06-16
date_modified: 2026-08-07
schema:
  @type: WebPage
language: en-US
word_count: 323
reading_time: 2 min
canonical: "https://www.systra.com/ibt/project/sam-houston-ship-channel-bridge-houston-texas/"
featured_image: "https://www.systra.com/ibt/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2024/07/sam-houston-channel-bridge.jpg"
project-market:
  - Cable-Supported Bridges
project-location:
  - USA
---

# Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge – Houston, Texas

![Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge – Houston, Texas](https://www.systra.com/ibt/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2024/07/sam-houston-channel-bridge.jpg)

**The Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge features twin cable-stayed decks, each
spanning 1,320 ft (402 m) over the Houston Ship Channel. The decks are supported
by architecturally striking yet structurally complex pylons, which are joined
just below
the deck level and share foundations.

Designed to widen the Sam Houston Tollway, the bridge offers eight lanes for
vehicular traffic and provides over 187 ft (57 m) of vertical clearance, crucial
for accommodating future channel expansions by the Port of Houston. The bridge’s
iconic 514 ft (157 m) tall towers, with the dynamic angles of its stay cables,
create a visual experience for drivers. Supported by large-diameter drilled
shafts and footings, with column heights varying from 5 to 135 ft (1.5 to 41 m),
the bridge ensures a navigational clearance of 175 ft (53 m), facilitating the
passage of large ships. The southbound link is being built first, and upon its
completion in 2025, demolition of the existing bridge will follow, with the new
northbound bridge set for completion in 2027.

SYSTRA IBT is responsible for the Independent Design Check of the cable-stayed
structure, verifying all structural elements based on independent modeling and
capacity assessment.

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