The new Margaret McDermott Bridge, spanning the Trinity River, is underway and the woman after which it was named affixed her name alongside those of other dignitaries to its steel beams.
The Margaret McDermott Bridge, part of an $800m project to redo Interstates 35E and 30 downtown, is being named after the 103-year-old Dallas philanthropist. Santiago Calatrava, the bridge’s designer, was also on hand along with regional leaders to sign the bridge. It is the Spanish architect’s second bridge to impact the Dallas skyline; the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge being the other.
Bridges are often a subject provided to postcard printing services and Calatrava’s Hunt Hill and McDermott Bridges will likely be immortalized in picture form for years to come, and be mailed all across the country.
Margaret was the wife of Geophysical Service Inc. co-founder Eugene McDermott. Mrs. McDermott and her late husband founded the Eugene McDermott Foundation, which has provided millions of dollars to education, civic, and cultural endeavors. Recipients of the McDermott Foundation money include the Dallas Museum of Art, MIT, and the University of Texas at Dallas.
The bridge supports that were signed will make up the twin white arches that will support the two spans of the Interstate 30 bridge. At normal level the Trinity River will be around 350 feet below those names. When completed, the Margaret McDermott Bridge’s twin spans will be 1,125 feet long and about 20 feet wide.
