John James Audubon Bridge | |
---|---|
Carries | 4 lanes of LA 10 |
Crosses | Mississippi River |
Locale | Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana |
Maintained by | LaDOTD |
Design | Cable-stayed bridge |
Total length | 12,883 feet (3,927 m) |
Width | 76 feet (23 m) |
Longest span | 1,583 feet (482 m) |
Clearance below | 130 feet (40 m) |
Opened | May 5, 2011 [1] |
Coordinates | 30°43′39″N 91°21′18″W / 30.7275°N 91.355°W |
The John James Audubon Bridge is a new Mississippi River crossing between Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana parishes in south central Louisiana. The bridge has the second longest cable-stayed span in the Western Hemisphere (after Mexico's Baluarte bridge)[1][2] (although its total length is four times that of the Mexican bridge) and replaces the ferry between the communities of New Roads and St. Francisville. The bridge also serves as the only bridge structure on the Mississippi River between Natchez, Mississippi and Baton Rouge, Louisiana (approximately 90 river miles).
The Audubon Bridge corridor includes:
- A 2.44-mile (3.93 km) four-lane elevated bridge structure with two 11-foot (3.4 m) travel lanes in each direction with 8-foot (2.4 m) outside shoulders and 2-foot (0.61 m) inside shoulders
- Approximately 12 miles (19 km) of two-lane roadway connecting LA 1 east of Hospital Road and Major Parkway at New Roads to US 61 south of LA 966 and St. Francisville
- Four new intersections at existing LA 1, LA 10, LA 981 (River Road) and US 61 for entry to and exit from the new roadway and bridge
The bridge became officially connected across the Mississippi River on Wednesday, December 29, 2010. Completion for public use was not expected until June 2011; however, the bridge was opened on May 5, 2011 due to rising water levels on the Mississippi River, which had forced the closure of the ferry connection.
The project was constructed by Audubon Bridge Constructors, a joint venture of Flatiron Constructors, Granite Construction and Parsons Transportation Group. The construction manager was Louisiana TIMED Managers, a joint venture of GEC, Inc., PB Americas, Inc., and LPA GROUP INCORPORATED. Upon completion, ownership of the bridge was turned over to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.
As a gateway, it is intended to provide highway traffic where centuries of ferry crossings and longer commutes have been the norm.
Artist John James Audubon dedicated his life to painting all of the birds in North America. He painted 32 of his famous works in his Birds of America series while residing at Oakley Plantation at St. Francisville as a tutor to Eliza Pirrie in 1821. Naming the new bridge after Audubon is significant to the project because it exemplifies the importance and preservation of the rich natural history of the region.
See also
References
- ^ Bridge claims record, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, January 2012
- ^ http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,807525,00.html Spiegel Online (In German)] 'Es ist noch nicht fertig'
- Bergeron, Angelle (14 April 2010). "Built Above Wildly Erratic River Levels, Cable-Stayed Giant Rises Over the Flood". Engineering News-Record (New York: McGraw-Hill). Archived from the original on 15 April 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5p0vywGao.
- Wold, Amy. "State Prepares for Water". The Advocate. http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/State-prepares-for-water.html. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
External links
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