John James Audubon Bridge (Mississippi River)

Infobox Bridge
bridge_name= John James Audubon Bridge


caption= Artist concept of the completed bridge
official_name=
also_known_as=
carries= 4 lanes of LA 10
crosses= Mississippi River
locale= Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
maint= LaDOTD
id=
design= Cable-stayed bridge
mainspan= convert|1583|ft|m|0
length= convert|12883|ft|m|0
width= convert|64|ft|m|0
clearance=
below= convert|65|ft|m|0
traffic=
open= Approx 2010
closed=
toll=
map_cue=
map_

map_text=
map_width=
coordinates= coord|30|43|39|N|91|21|18|W|region:US_type:landmark

The John James Audubon Bridge project is a new Mississippi River crossing between Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana parishes in south central Louisiana.

The bridge--proposed to be the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America when complete--will replace an existing ferry between the communities of New Roads and St. Francisville.

The bridge will also serve as the only bridge structure on the Mississippi River between Natchez, Mississippi and Baton Rouge, Louisiana (approximately 90 river miles).

The Audubon Bridge project will include:

A convert|2.44|mi|km|sing=on four-lane elevated bridge structure with two convert|11|ft|m|sing=on travel lanes in each direction with convert|8|ft|m|sing=on outside shoulders and convert|2|ft|m|sing=on inside shoulders

Approximately convert|12|mi|km of two-lane roadway connecting LA 1 east of Hospital Road at New Roads to US 61 south of LA 966 and St. Francisville.

Four new intersections at existing LA 1, LA 10, LA 981 (River Road) and US 61 for entry to and exit from the new roadway and bridge

The project is being constructed by Audubon Bridge Constructors, a joint venture of Flatiron Constructors, Granite Construction and Parsons Transportation Group.

The John James Audubon Bridge project is expected to be complete by summer 2010. As a gateway, it is intended to provide highway traffic where centuries of ferry crossings and longer commutes have been the norm.

Artist John James Audubon dedicated his life to painting all of the birds in North America. He painted 32 of his famous works in his Birds of America series while residing at Oakley Plantation at St. Francisville as a tutor to Eliza Pirrie in 1821.

Naming the new bridge after Audubon is significant to the project because it exemplifies the importance and preservation of the rich natural history of the region. However, construction of the bridge and the highway approaches in West Feliciana Parish has been party to the removal of hundreds of old-growth live oak trees on Highway 61.

ee also

*List of crossings of the Lower Mississippi River

External links

* [http://www.audubonbridge.com/ John James Audubon Bridge]

Crossings navbox
structure = Crossings
place = Mississippi River
bridge = John James Audubon Bridge
bridge signs = "LA 3057"
upstream = New Roads-St. Francisville Ferry
upstream signs =
downstream = Huey P. Long Bridge
downstream signs =
"Kansas City Southern Railway"