Hale Boggs bridge to fully reopen Wednesday

The much-anticipated date on completing upgrade work on the Hale Boggs Memorial Bridge is Wednesday (June 15).After nearly six months of hours-long traffic jams, lane changes and detours, the $24.5 million project is expected to be done in only a few days pending inclement weather, according to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD).

“By delivering this project, the positive impact to the community equates to a smoother, safer roadway and structure,” said DOTD spokeswoman Bambi Hall. “Additionally, with it now being hurricane season, it was important to complete the work as this corridor is critical to efficient hurricane evacuation operations.”

Hall said full traffic access to the bridge should be restored by mid-June as projected by the DOTD.

An estimated 52,000 vehicles use the bridge on a work day.

The last segment of the deck overlay project was poured with concrete on the bridge last Tuesday (June 2), which Hall said marks efforts to restore travel lanes “to their original configuration” of two southbound lanes and two northbound lanes.

DOTD work to replace the Interstate 310 – Hale Boggs bridge deck and repairs began in January.

Project contractor, C.E.C. Inc. of Lafayette, started repair work on the bridge in early October. By January, C.E.C. began replacing the bridge’s asphalt deck or road surface with an estimated 2,300 cubic yards of concrete, which the DOTD determined would provide a use life of at least 15 years.

 

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