Low bridge involved in deadly boat wreck is in line for replacement

A low bridge involved in a boating accident Friday night that left an Arlington man dead is set to be replaced but lacks the needed funding, Texas Department of Transportation officials said.

A Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesman initially identified the bridge hit by boat as the northernmost of the three Texas 198 bridges over the Cedar Creek Reservoir.

But late Wednesday afternoon, in an emailed response to questions sent Monday by the Star-Telegram, Transportation Department spokeswoman Kathi White said that the bridge involved is the Clear Creek Bridge, the middle of the three 198 bridges over the lake.

She said the Clear Creek Bridge, built in 1965, has a clearance under it of about 5 feet when the lake is at normal elevation.

The lake is down roughly three-quarters of a foot at the reservoir, which is operated by the Tarrant Regional Water District.

Daniel Mohorc, the 64-year-old president and CEO of Arlignton-based Galactic Performance Solutions, died Saturday from injuries suffered late Friday night after he and dentist Anthony Henegar struck the bridge while boating with friends and family.

A post on Henegar’s business Facebook page on Wednesday indicates that he is “making remarkable improvement daily” and that doctors expect he will make a “full and complete recovery in due time.”

A third man on the boat, Larry Scala of Arlington, was arrested after the crash on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

The lake is about 80 miles southeast of Fort Worth in Henderson and Kaufman counties.

White said the Transportation Department’s Tyler District has completed plans to replace Clear Creek Bridge to address the width of the structure and intend to start right-of-way acquisition in the near future.

“We anticipate having the ROW [right of way] acquired and the project ready to go to construction, should funding become available, in spring 2018,” White said. “However, this project currently remains unfunded.”

White said that when it is built, the Clear Creek Bridge will have a design like the other two Texas 198 bridges, which were replaced in 2010 and 2012 and have 20-foot clearances above the lake’s normal pool elevation.

Area residents said the Clear Creek Bridge has no lights under it and no warning signs about the low clearance.

White said the Transportation Department does not have a formal policy for providing lighting under lake bridges.

“The lake authority ultimately has responsibility for approving any device that is designed to direct boat traffic on their facility,” White said. “The same holds true for any signing that would be installed in the lake.”

Tarrant Regional Water District spokesman Chad Lorance said that because the accident remains under investigation, the district “ will await the results of that investigation before commenting further.”

This story was originally published July 29, 2016 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Low bridge involved in deadly boat wreck is in line for replacement."