Bayou bridge closes for repairs

The Bayou Blue Pontoon Bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway north of Bourg, part of Louisiana Highway 316, will be closed for major repair work beginning this week.

The work is expected to last around eight weeks.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is reminding motorists that the Prospect Boulevard (Louisiana Highway 3087), Park Avenue (Louisiana Highway 659), and Main Street (Louisiana Highway 24) bridges over the Intracoastal Waterway in Houma can be used for crossing the canal.

The bridge will be removed from the site and placed in dry dock for a structural overhaul, sandblasting, and repainting.

Repair work will be performed by Bollinger Amelia Repair, said a spokesman for the department.

On Sept. 27, Bollinger Amelia bid lowest at $275,000, the spokesman said.

Bollinger has a yard on the Intracoastal Waterway.

Around 4400 vehicles a day use the pontoon bridge, but the crossing “doesn’t generate heavy traffic volume,” according to the department’s Dennis Hebert.

“The barge is leaking,” said Paul Lambert, assistant district administrator. “It’s served its time.”

Lambert said parts of the bridge’s steel hull need to be replaced.