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Two Terrebonne Parish moveable bridges – one a high-volume thoroughfare and the other a low-volume but nonetheless crucial link for people who depend on it – are not expected to be working again until next year.
The Houma Navigational Canal Bridge, which allows La. Highway 661 to span that waterway, has limited hours for auto traffic.
State Department of Transportation and Development spokeswoman Bambi Hall said it could be operational by December, but the date is not firm. Delays have already plagued the project, which was scheduled for electrical and mechanical upgrades and began in November 2012.
It was due to be re-opened in July, but workers found a broken bracket that required replacement.
Hall said it had to be custom-fabricated, causing the clock to tick further. The closure, which results in south- and eastbound traffic being forced through the Houma Intracoastal Waterway Tunnel or over the Intracoastal Twin Span, has resulted in severe traffic delays, especially on Barrow Street.
The Bayou Blue Bridge, which carries La. Highway 316 across the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway near Bourg, has been closed since an allision Dec. 7, 2013. A tug pushing barges slammed into the bridge, causing major damage.
An allision occurs when a ship or boat strikes a fixed object.
A DOTD engineer said last week the construction work for the bridge has finally gone to bid and that the bridge could be operational by March or April 2015.
The engineer, Keith Angelette, said an in-house team had to create the specification upon which the bids would be based, and that can be a time-consuming process.
People living or working west of the bridge wishing to reach the Prospect Street Extension – a straight shot from La. Highway 316 – must now take the Company Canal Road to La. Highway 24 and then travel to Prospect, crossing an additional bridge.
Those on the east side of the bridge wishing to reach Bourg and points south must now travel to Prospect by way of Coteau Road.
Bourg resident Matt Matherne, a former Lafourche Parish Council member, registered his disgust when asked about the bridge problem by saying, “They should just drop it into the bayou.”
Before the bridge was completed in 1972 a ferry carried traffic across the intracoastal waterway.
Andrea Joseph, who works at the LeBeouf Brothers marine towing office in Bourg, said she and others there have miles added onto their commute.
“It has been quite an inconvenience,” she said.
Continued repair work on the Houma Navigational Canal Bridge has made for morning traffic tie-ups on Barrow Street and other thoroughfares.
