Karla Valenzuela 
PORT ISABEL – Wednesday, September 15th marked the 20th anniversary since the Queen Isabella bridge collapsed in 2001. Four barges collided with the support columns on the causeway connecting Port Isabel and South Padre Island, causing two 85-foot sections of the bridge to fall into the Laguna Madre. The collapse drove 11 people into the ocean and killed eight.
Valerie Bates, Marketing Director for the City of Port Isabel, took photographs of the incident during the early morning and has since done multiple presentations on the collapse.
“They have added […] cement barriers on each side of the opening on the gulf intercoastal waterway, that if a barge were to go off course, it would hit that before it would hit the bridge,” said Bates. “The bridge bares scares that we could notice, we could feel.”
Bates explained that the city has since added optic cables to the causeway that will trigger arms to come down and signal traffic not to pass after detecting a vibration.
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