DOTD facing decision on bridge that connects Westlake, Moss Bluff

Published 8:26 am Monday, September 30, 2013

The La. 378 vertical lift bridge over the Calcasieu River that connects Westlake and Moss Bluff has been opened three times in the past two years to accommodate water traffic, according to a consultant contracted by DOTD.

No matter which route DOTD officials choose in the expansion of the roadway between Westlake and Moss Bluff, a decision will have to be made about how to proceed with the bridge.

DOTD recently released the results of a feasibility study to four-lane the road. Three proposals were presented to the public, although no decisions are made in the feasibility stage.

Alternatives A and B call for two side-by-side one-way bridges to complement the four-lane highway.

Alternative C through Sam Houston Jones State Park would re-route the road away from where the existing bridge currently sits. Alternative C has been met with sharp criticism from park proponents.

Alternatives A or B will require a decision whether to repair the bridge or replace it.

When open, the bridge provides a 50-foot clearance, but what’s actually needed may be less, said Bruce Richards, consultant contracted by the DOTD.

Closed, the current bridge clearance is about 14 feet and a new bridge would need to be about 10-20 feet higher, Richards said.

“I think everyone would agree the best answer would be to figure out how much higher a fixed span bridge would have to be and then build it at that height,” Richards said.

Richards said what he gathered from the public meeting is that mostly barge traffic requires the opening of the bridge.

“It’s not like we’re having lots of huge sailing ships,” Richards said.

Because the bridge is more than 50 years old — built in 1968 — it is eligible to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Spokeswoman Deidra Druihlet said DOTD is not currently pursuing that option, but “we would make sure, if we chose an alternative in which were doing some types of improvement to the bridge, we would go through the proper steps through the state historic preservation office and the public to let them know what we’re doing.”

Bridges are typically listed on the National Register if they are one of the few remaining examples of a specific type of bridge, were built by a certain architect or bear a unique architecture, Richards said.

But even were DOTD to choose to attempt to have the bridge listed, it doesn’t mean it couldn’t be replaced, Richards said. It could be documented that the bridge stood where it is.

“It wouldn’t be so significant that they wouldn’t be able to replace it,” Richards said.

The next step for the project to move forward is either an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement, Richards said.

In 1993, methane gas reportedly built up in one of the bridge’s hollow pilings and exploded.

The explosion didn’t appear to damage the bridge too badly as DOTD inspected the bridge and traffic resumed later that day.

• • •

The three alternate plans for the project are now available on the DOTD website at www.dotd.la.gov

(Rick Hickman / Special to the American Press)

Rick Hickman