Edgar Delgadillo: Remembering construction of first Pharr Bridge span; planning for construction of second
PHARR, Texas - Colleagues like to brag on Pharr Bridge Director of Operations Fred Brouwen that he has been there from the beginning because he was operating the tolls when the first trucks crossed.
But, Pharr Bridge Board Chairman Edgar Delgadillo jokes that he can top that because he saw the bridge being built.
“I was there when my Dad was hauling dirt for the first part of the bridge. I remember sitting on top of the hill,” Delgadillo said, “I must have been 17, 18 years old. My Mom would make lunch for my Dad and the rest of the guys working for my Dad,” Delgadillo told the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service.
“My Dad told us, ‘They said they’re building a bridge.’ We asked, ‘To where?’”
According to Delgadillo, all you could see was a hill and then the fields.
The Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge measures 3.2 miles in length, making it one of the longest bridges to connect two countries.
Now, decades after watching the first span being built, Delgadillo leads the Pharr Bridge Board as it works on construction of a second span.
“Twenty some years later, I’m here on the Board. I’m chairman, so it is a little personal. Life comes full circle sometimes,” Delgadillo said. “Just to see the new expansion coming up. We’ve worked hard for it.”
Luis Bazan, the Pharr Bridge Director, sat down for his monthly update on bridge matters with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service. This month’s discussion was longer than normal as Bazan gave plenty of insider information about the construction of a new span, construction of a spur connecting to the new customs facilities on the Reynosa side of the bridge, a possible change in the bridge’s hours of operation, approval of a bond issue for the DAP program, and plans to have an even bigger celebration of the Fresh Produce Season in 2022.
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