Council members are calling foul and will decide at a June meeting whether to commission its own feasibility study into the future of the elevated highway near downtown.
From the trial’s start, attorneys for the crane owner and the general contractor/developer have each argued that their respective clients bear no responsibility for the collapse.
The original price tag was $233 million, but last month the new estimate jumped to $264 million, with TxDOT citing supply chain issues and the impact of inflation on concrete and steel prices.
Estimated $750-million to $950-million project set to be built on an Occidental Petroleum site in Texas would remove 860,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year by capturing it and storing it underground.
Texas DOT and the Flatiron/Dragados joint venture announced that they have settled last concerns over the proposed design of jointed pier segments that stalled the nearly $1-billion project last July.
One goal of the research is to identify optimum design patterns from native materials that can be used for 3D-printed horizontal construction at remote sites.
The $925-million project, which will widen I-10 through Baton Rouge from three to four lanes each way, has risen in cost more than $200 million in two years, officials say.