The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is a bridge in

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, that spans the Trinity River. The bridge is named for

Margaret Hunt Hill Margaret Hunt Hill (1915–2007) was an American heiress and philanthropist. Early life On October 19, 1915, Hill was born as Margaret Hunt in Lake Village, Arkansas. Hill's father was H. L. Hunt (1889–1974) and her mother was Lyda Bunk ...

, an heiress and philanthropist. The bridge was constructed as part of the

Trinity River Project The Trinity River Project is a public works project undertaken in the 2000s in the city of Dallas, Texas, United States. Its goal is to redevelop the Trinity River. The project aims to turn the river's path into a collection of sports fields, trail ...

. Designed by

Santiago Calatrava Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stadiums, and museums, whose sculp ...

, it is one of three such bridges planned to be built over the Trinity; the second, the Margaret McDermott Bridge, is completed; the third cancelled. The span parallels the

Ronald Kirk Bridge The Ronald Kirk Bridge is a pedestrian bridge over the Trinity River in Dallas, Texas. It connects Downtown Dallas and West Dallas, paralleling the 2012 Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge for vehicles, and the 1930 Texas and Pacific Railway Trinity River ...

, a walking bridge that was previously the Continental Avenue bridge.

History

The bridge, which opened in March 2012, is the first of a series of bridges that the office of

designed to span the Trinity River in downtown Dallas. The bridge connects Spur 366 (Woodall Rodgers Freeway) in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

to Singleton Boulevard in West Dallas. Construction on the bridge began in December 2005. The bridge cost $117 million to build.. Retrieved May 3, 2006 A ''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'' analysis put the project's total cost at $182 million. Beginning in 2004
The Trinity Trust Foundation
successfully worked to secure private funds in support of the Trinity River Corridor Project, including the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, Margaret McDermott Bridge, Ronald Kirk Bridge, trails and other components of the project. On June 26, 2010, the signature 40-story center-support

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vau ...

was topped with a central curved span, which can now be seen from many miles away in several directions. The arch provides an additional feature to the Downtown Dallas skyline. In 2012, the bridge received an Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award from the Texas section of the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. The bridge also received a 2012 European Convention for Constructional Steelwork Award For Steel Bridges. On June 1, 2020 at approximately 9:00 PM, several hundred

protesters A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

marching on the bridge were arrested in a

kettling Kettling (also known as containment or corralling) is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves the formation of large cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a li ...

maneuver when Dallas Police routed the protest onto the bridge, blocked in the demonstration on both sides, fired teargas and pepper balls into the nonviolent crowd, then detained all protesters on the bridge for several hours. On June 4, former Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall announced that the protesters would not be charged following several days of attention and backlash from community members, political figures, local news outlets, and activist groups.

Architecture

The

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...

supports its length and main span with a steel

whose peak's height is 400 feet (122 m). An array of twisting cables connect the underside of the arch's curved pylon to the bridge's platform. Fifty-eight (58) white strands descend from the arch and secure themselves along the centerline of the platform. The diameter support is composed of 25 individual segments, secured with of bolts and additional 450 tons (408,233 kg) of concrete. The bridge provides six lanes for vehicular traffic. The bridge closely resembles two of three bridges constructed in 2005-2006 above the Autostrada A1

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

and connecting roads in

Reggio Emilia, Italy Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

, that Calatrava had earlier designed. In 2009, the European Convention for Constructional Steelwork gave the two bridges a European Steel Design Award, stating that the structures' original visual effects at different angles give the bridges "the aspect of huge musical instruments."

Gallery

File:Margaret_Hunt_Hill_Bridge_Construction_-_March_2010.jpg, Construction in March 2010 File:Arch MHH Bridge 02.JPG, Construction in July 2010 File:Skyline of Dallas.PNG, Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge with Dallas skyline in background (May 2014) File:View of Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge from Reunion Tower August 2015 23.jpg, Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge as seen from the Reunion Tower (August 2015) File:Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.jpg, Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in March 2020

History

Architecture

Gallery

References

Further reading