Huey P Long Bridge - New Orleans Louisiana
Posted by: 
misfitt
N 29° 56.670 W 090° 10.167
15R E 773207 N 3316005
New Orleans Louisiana Huey P Long Bridge, Mississippi River Bridge, River Mile 106.1
Waymark Code: WM1F4W
Location: Louisiana, United States
Date Posted: 04/24/2007
Views: 96
A Steel Truss Through Deck containing highway US-90 and the New Orleans Belt Railroad carrying 50,500 vehicles a day and 15-trains (estimated.) 4 Traffic Lanes, 2 On Each Side of Railroad, highway structure 8,076 ft., track, length 22,996 ft, longest span 790 ft, Opened August 1935.
This is one scary tall narrow bridge. The high volume of traffic doesn't help things, either. Just as I was taking the final photo, a train was inching its way across the bridge. That was a noisy, loud, shaky experience even when standing on the ground 150 feet below the tracks.
It is hard to grasp how big this monster really is. The deck is flat to accommodate rail traffic, where high bridges like this normally have a hump shape to them. The auto ramps go up hill at a rather strong grade, while the rail road approaches are much more gradual, and extend miles to each side of the bridge. The piers are equally massive, but much of that structure is below water. Since New Orleans is built on silt, bedrock is over 1000 feet down, impractical to use for bridge foundations. The piers depend on their size and mass to stay in place.
This bridge has been rated as "unacceptable" and is part of a high priority project to rebuild. The current plan is to remove the existing highway lanes, build two new steel structures parallel to the current superstructure, and route the highways over these new superstructures.
Note that there are two bridges over the Mississippi in Louisiana that are named after Huey P. Long, longtime governor of that state. The other is a very similarly configured bridge in Baton Rouge.
Parking Coordinates:: N 29° 56.820 W 090° 10.530
Date Built: 01/01/1934
Length of Span:
Main Sapn 790 Ft
Highway Length 8,076 Ft.
Railroad Length 22,996
www:
http://www.visi.com/~jweeks/lower_mississippi/pages/lmiss16.html
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Visit Instructions:
Log your find with a picture of the bridge with yourself or your GPS in the foreground. This shot does not have to be taken "on" the bridge. The shot should show the "truss" structure of the bridge as well.