The new span connecting East Baton Rouge Parish and the City of Denham Springs, is moving along nicely. We have updated our photo gallery with a few photos taken this past weekend around the construction site.

Last week's heavy rains and possibility of flooding of the spillway forced the construction crew to move the two huge cranes that are being used in the process, to move to higher ground which made for a nice photo opp.

The construction on the replacement bridge will last around 2 years but will replace 2 spans that have been in questionable in safety for probably 10 years or so. The westbound span was built in the early 1930s and the eastbound span was built several years later. Surprisingly enough, the westbound span has held up much better than the newer eastbound span. It seems like everytime I cross the eastbound span I notice new patches of concrete which were hauled in to fix holes in the existing structure. These holes are formed when sections of the road simply fall off and plunge into the river.

The cost of the new span is approximately $30million and the estimated date of completion is February, 2011. It is approximately 2.3 miles in length and is being built by James Construction Group, LLC.