SLIDELL, La. (AP) — The U.S. 11 bridge that links the south and north shores of Lake Pontchartrain has finally reopened, three years after repairs closed it.
The nearly 5-mile span that connects the City of Slidell to New Orleans had been closed in January 2019 at the start of a $28.4 million renovation. By Thursday afternoon, it was back in business, with a few trucks and cars speeding by.
Department of Transportation and Development spokesperson Chris Welty attributed the delay to several factors, from hurricanes to COVID-19 to the need for more repairs to the 94-year-old bridge than anticipated, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.
Opened in 1928 as the Watson-Williams Pontchartrain Bridge and, later, the Maestri Bridge, the 4.8-mile structure was the first to carry vehicles across Lake Pontchartrain, long before Interstate 10 and the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway were built.
“The last two two hurricane seasons were abnormally active for south Louisiana,” Welty said. “When a tropical system enters the Gulf of Mexico, work stops and the contractor must secure and remove all of their equipment. In 2020, there were eight storms in the Gulf that impacted the project.”
The pandemic affected staffing and contractor scheduling and also caused shipping and manufacturing delays, he added.
The scope of work also increased. Plans called for concrete repairs, a new grid deck and rehabbing the electrical and mechanical systems on the two drawbridges. Welty said the drawbridges, which had exceeded their life span, needed substantial repairs. More concrete needed to be restored and the steel was in worse shape than expected.
The contractor might face penalties, but will have the opportunity to argue that the delays were beyond its control, Welty said.
A few items still need to be completed, according to DOTD, and that may cause lane closures. Final adjustments and tests of the drawbridge mechanism will require closing the bridge, but that will be done at night, the department said.
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