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Grapevine’s Southland Holdings buys builder involved in flawed Margaret McDermott Bridge

American Bridge Co.'s resume also includes landmarks such as Yankee Stadium, the Empire State Building and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Grapevine construction giant Southland Holdings has purchased American Bridge Co., the builder that helped construct iconic projects such as the Empire State Building, the Houston Astrodome and even Dallas’ flawed Margaret McDermott Bridge.

Southland Holdings LLC announced Thursday that the deal closed, paying an undisclosed price that will add about 450 employees to the company’s existing 2,900 workers.

Southland spokeswoman Rachel Sackett said American Bridge will keep its headquarters office in Coraopolis, Pa., but the deal will give Southland more capabilities to grow in North Texas. Southland has about 800 employees locally.

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“Southland does do bridges, but American Bridge has a substantial and unique bridge portfolio,” she said.

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American Bridge has a vast international portfolio of bridges and other large construction projects, Sackett said.

North Texans might be most familiar with American Bridge for its work on the Margaret McDermott Bridge spanning Interstate 30 over the Trinity River, a project that will need another three years and $7 million to repair after anchor cables snapped during high winds.

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Blame for the flaws went back and forth between the builder and Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, but ultimately the city of Dallas ended up paying for the fixes. While the bridge’s car section has opened, the pedestrian portion won’t be accessible until at least 2022.

>> Read about the Margaret McDermott Bridge construction in this 2015 special report.

American Bridge has been formed out of dozens of previous construction companies and was consolidated into its current form in 1900 by J.P. Morgan & Co.

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Since then, it has worked on notable projects such as the Willis Tower in Chicago, the monorail at Walt Disney World, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the New Orleans Superdome.

American Bridge Co. was sold to Taiwan’s Continental Engineering in 1988.

Southland specializes in large industrial projects, such as wastewater treatment plants, tunnels and bridges. It’s also the lead contractor on the $300 million Mill Creek drainage relief tunnel in Dallas.

Despite the economic downturn from the COVID-19 pandemic, Sackett said Southland, which had $1.2 billion in revenue in 2019, is “busier than ever.” The company has $8.5 billion in projects under contract.

“Even in a pandemic, projects have to go forward,” she said.