Luling Bridge

Infobox Bridge
bridge_name= Luling Bridge


caption=
official_name= Hale Boggs Memorial Bridge
also_known_as=
carries= 4 lanes of Interstate 310
crosses= Mississippi River
locale= Hahnville, Louisiana and Destrehan, Louisiana
maint= LaDOTD
id= 024504503700001
design= Cable-stayed bridge
mainspan= convert|1234|ft|m|0
length= convert|10700|ft|m|0
width= convert|76|ft|m|0
clearance=
below= convert|158|ft|m|0
traffic= 37,500
open= October 6, 1983
closed=
toll=
map_cue=
map_

map_text=
map_width=
coordinates= coord|29|56|33|N|90|22|25|W|region:US_type:landmarkThe Luling Bridge (also known as the Hale Boggs Memorial Bridge) is a cable-stayed bridge over the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. It is named for United States Congressman Hale Boggs. The bridge was dedicated by Governor David C. Treen and Bishop Stanley Ott of Baton Rouge, then opened to traffic on October 8, 1983 connecting Louisiana Highway 18 on the West Bank and Louisiana Highway 48 on the East Bank. Ten years later, the Luling Bridge was incorporated into the newly completed Interstate 310.

The Luling Bridge was the first major cable-stayed bridge in the United States, although it was not the first (that designation belongs to the Cable Bridge in Washington). The bridge has an uncommon design which uses very few cables. Additionally, the bridge deck is closer to a box girder in design than a suspended deck. The bridge has a bronze color intended to blend with the muddy waters of the Mississippi River.

The Luling Bridge was also the first large weathering steel bridge in the United States, intended to protect the bridge from corrosion in the wet and humid conditions of coastal Louisiana. Unfortunately, while the outside of the bridge has performed excellently, the inside has shown significant rust due to a design flaw which allows insufficient airflow within structural columns [http://www.cs.odu.edu/~vbanavar/catalyst/c2001/bgap.htm] .Fact|date=October 2007

Upon completion of Interstate 49, I-310 and the Luling Bridge will serve as a connection between I-49 and Interstate 10 on the western edge of metropolitan New Orleans.

"George Prince" tragedy

The bridge was under construction on October 20, 1976 when the ferry "George Prince" was struck by a tanker while crossing the river from Destrehan to Luling, the same communities connected by this bridge. Seventy-eight people perished when the ferry capsized; only eighteen survived.

ee also

*List of crossings of the Lower Mississippi River

References

* Weeks III, John A. "I-310 Hale Boggs Memorial Bridge, New Orleans, LA" [sic] . [http://www.johnweeks.com/lower_mississippi/pages/lmiss15.html http://www.johnweeks.com/lower_mississippi/pages/lmiss15.html] . Retrieved January 30, 2006.
* Kurumi.com. "Interstate 310" [http://www.kurumi.com/roads/3di/i310.html] . November 26, 2003. Retrieved January 30, 2006.

Crossings navbox
structure = Crossings
place = Mississippi River
bridge = Luling Bridge
bridge signs =
upstream = Edgard-Reserve Ferry
upstream signs =
downstream = Huey P. Long Bridge
downstream signs =
"New Orleans Public Belt"