Closure occurs on weekday for first time
The northbound lanes of the Hale Boggs Bridge will be closed from Friday at 7 p.m. until Tuesday at 5 a.m., according to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.
This will be the longest bridge closure during the cable-replacement project and will mark the first time that one side of the bridge will be completely closed on a weekday. During the closure residents can take the bridge to get from Destrehan to Luling, but will have to take either the Huey P. Long Bridge or the Veterans Memorial Bridge in Wallace to make a return trip.
The closure is needed to replace the expansion joint on the bridge.
According to DOTD, the contractor will work continuously to install the expansion joint with hopes of opening the northbound lanes early.
There will be a hole in the bridge itself, so the prospect of crossing in the northbound lanes during the closure will be impossible.
In the event of a major emergency, plans will be put into effect to allow necessary vehicles to cross over to the East Bank, according to St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne. In addition, the Sheriff’s Office will deploy additional personnel and resources to the East Bank to be certain they are prepared for any emergency situation.
St. Charles Parish Hospital also said that they will have measures in place to insure normal emergency operations on both sides of the river.
The cable replacement project began in 2009 with an estimated end date of February 2011. However, because of delays the project will not be complete until September.
Each of the 72 cables is being replaced one at a time because the job involves installing a replacement cable next to an existing cable, applying tension and then removing the old cable.
The current cables had a lifespan of 25 years, which they lived up to, and the new cables are designed to last 50 years.
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