After two arduous years of rebuilding, reconstruction, re-wiring, refitting, and delays, delays, delays the US-11 bridge is now set to reopen this Spring.
Over $28-Mln has been spent to renovate the 93-year old causeway.
What’s been fixed? You name it.
The electrical system has been rebuilt, the mechanical system for the spans two drawbridges have been completely rebuilt.
Concrete work, structural repairs, roadway surfacing, all to get the nearly 5-mile span up to code and back in service.
"We will do everything we can to make sure it's completed as expeditiously as we can," Scott Boyle, assistant district administrator of operations for DOTD's New Orleans District, told the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate Friday.
Why so long? Specialized parts replication and refabricating took an enormous amount of time to put the lifting spans back into operation.
After that, COVID-19, and a hurricane season never seen before with six named storms putting the span in the cone of uncertainty.
This involved disassembling supports, lowering the spans from their upward positions and locking the roadways into place.
The result for the people who used the bridge and depend on business from the spans travelers?
Lost time, lost revenue, and inconvenience.
Though the date hasn’t been specific, the anticipation for the reopening is palpable among the residents who make the commute into Orleans Parish.