• Construction finish: 1992
• Designed by: District 12 of the Texas Department of Highways and Public Transportation
• Cost: $117,500,000.00
• Type: Bridge
• Maximum Height: 440 feet
• Maximum Length: 1,250 feet

• The Fred Hartman Bridge replaced the Baytown-La Porte Tunnel, which replaced the Morgans Point Ferry. A $17.5 million plan was put together to have the tunnel was sealed, its tube floated in three sections 30 miles off the coast of Galveston Island, and sunk to form an artificial reef. That plan was cancelled in 1997 because of insurance costs and the inconvenience of closing the Houston Ship Channel during transport. Instead, the tunnel was demolished in place.

There are eight comments.

  I was born in Baytown in 1951 and moved to Houston in 1963 then moved to Tennessee in 1987. I grew up driving through the old Baytown/Laport tunnel. I always thought of it as a novelty. I had not been to Baytown in over 20 years when I visited 2 years ago. At that time I had no idea the tunnel was gone and could not believe my eyes when I approached this new bridge at night. Really nice and something the area should be very proud of. Hard to believe the old tunnel is gone.

Ray - Thursday, April 24th, 2008 @ 12:04am  

  Its a beautiful bridge. I think we can say that BOTH Baytown and La Porte are proud of it, although La Porte seems to showcase it more...Whatever it belongs to the port of houston.

Adrian - Thursday, August 16th, 2007 @ 8:25pm  

  This bridge is totally awesome!Beautiful to look at and great to drive on, nice ride and great view of the industies. This is something that you may take for granted, unless you grew up to appreciate the beauty of the area.

Deana - Tuesday, June 26th, 2007 @ 2:02pm  

  I've lived in Baytown since I was born in 1986 and I love this bridge...it's the pride of Baytown. I used to hate the tunnel because of all of the traffic...and when I was a little kid I could never hold my breath all the way through it. La Porte sucks, why do they get to claim the bridge? I say it belongs to Baytown. The bridge is as gorgeous as it is massive. It's a lot of fun to take the boat out and go under it on the water...it's a lot more quiet than going over it in a car :)

Brittany Hoover - Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 @ 3:46pm  

  I ran the tower crane and the derrick cranes that set the main span on the Fred Hartman Bridge. I worked for Williams Brothers at the time and it was an experience of a lifetime for myself and fellow co-workers.

Michael Beck - Saturday, March 24th, 2007 @ 10:03pm  

  Wish my husband had lived to see it. He was very excited about how the bridge would open up this area for commerce.

Ginnie Groda - Thursday, January 25th, 2007 @ 3:40pm  

  Thank you for answering my question about who the bridge was named after. The Fred Hartman Bridge is one of the most beautiful bridges I have ever seen and I have seen many in my travels through my 70 years.

Delores McLeod - Thursday, May 19th, 2005 @ 1:55pm  

  The bridge is truly beautiful. My daughter lived in Baytown for 18 years and we traveled across the bridge many times.

Delores McLeod - Thursday, May 19th, 2005 @ 12:01pm