The Queen Isabella Memorial Bridge, formerly the Queen Isabella Causeway, is a concrete pier-and-beam bridge with a steel cantilever main beam span connecting Port Isabel to

South Padre Island South Padre Island is a barrier island in the U.S. state of Texas. The remote landform is located in Cameron County, Willacy County, and accessible by the Queen Isabella Causeway. South Padre Island was formed when the creation of the Port Ma ...

in southern

Cameron County, Texas Cameron County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 421,017. Its county seat is Brownsville. The county was founded in 1848 and is named for Captain Ewen Cameron, a soldier durin ...

. The bridge sustains the continuation of Texas Park Road 100 and is the only road connecting South Padre Island to mainland Texas. Stretching across the

Laguna Madre The Laguna Madre is a long, shallow, hypersaline lagoon along the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Nueces County, Texas, Nueces, Kenedy County, Texas, Kenedy, Kleberg County, Texas, Kleberg, Willacy County, Texas, Willacy and Cameron Coun ...

, the

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

is the second-longest bridge in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, after the Fred Hartman Bridge over the Houston Ship Channel. It is named after Queen Isabella of Castile. The current bridge opened in 1974, replacing a previous bridge that had also been named Queen Isabella Causeway. A central section of the earlier causeway was removed and renamed the Queen Isabella State Fishing Pier. The bridge was severely damaged after being struck by four

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

s in 2001; eight people were killed in the accident. It reopened four months later after repairs and installation of a warning system, and was subsequently renamed to the Queen Isabella Memorial Bridge in memory of the victims.

Incidents

1996 plane crash

On August 13, 1996, at 6:22 p.m., while maneuvering near Port Isabel, a Cessna TR182 collided with the causeway, killing both the pilot-in-command and the pilot-rated passenger. Witnesses and local authorities reported that the airplane was observed flying a pass from north to south under the causeway. It then turned and approached the bridge toward the north for another pass, but struck a concrete bridge pylon and column and descended uncontrolled into the water. Witnesses recalled an explosion and black smoke as the airplane struck the bridge. Portions of the airplane's vertical and horizontal stabilizers were found projecting from the bridge column at about above the waterline.

Texas Department of Public Safety Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous state in the South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and has an international border wi ...

divers located the fuselage submerged on the west side of the column in approximately of water. The postmortem toxicology report indicated that the pilot-in-command tested positive for

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

and a concentration of 143 mg/dl

ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...

in the blood.

2001 causeway collapse

In the early morning of September 15, 2001, four loaded

s crashed into one of the Queen Isabella Causeway's support columns traveling at . The collision caused two spans to fall into the water, leaving a gap in the roadway. The collapsed sections were next to the highest point of the causeway, making it difficult for approaching drivers to notice. Eight people were killed as their cars fell 85 feet (26 m) into the water. Five vehicles were recovered from the water along with three survivors. The collapse had a significant economic impact on the region since the causeway is the only road connecting the island to the mainland. The bridge also carried electricity lines and fresh water to the island. State officials brought in ferries to temporarily carry cars across the

. News and discussion of the collapse was mostly confined to local and regional sources due to the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

four days earlier. In addition to the three bridge sections that toppled in the accident, two adjacent sections were also replaced due to structural damage. The causeway was reopened on November 21, 2001. Several safety features were added to the structure. The support columns were reinforced, and a $900,000

fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

collapse warning system was installed. Two years after the reopening, the causeway was renamed to the Queen Isabella Memorial Bridge to honor the victims of the accident. A report from the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

assigned blame to the captain of the barges' tow boat.

References

External links

* *
Aerial view of Queen Isabella Causeway
postcard at PaperEphemeras.com {{United States bridge disasters Bridge disasters in the United States Collisions between ships and bridges Transportation in Cameron County, Texas Disasters in Texas Buildings and structures in Cameron County, Texas 1996 in Texas 2001 in Texas September 2001 in the United States Transportation disasters in Texas 1974 establishments in Texas

Incidents

1996 plane crash

2001 causeway collapse

See also

References

External links