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Hurricane Katrina Road Information

Hurricane Katrina Road Closures

Hurricane Katrina slammed the central Gulf Coast with 145 mph sustained winds on the morning of August 29, 2005. The former Category 5 storm walloped the coastline, sending a 25 foot plus storm surge into Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, and Biloxi, Mississippi, decimating over 80 percent of those coastal communities. The north winds generated from the storm pushed Lake Pontchartrain waters over and through the levee system that protects the city of New Orleans, inundating over 80 percent of the city with 9 feet of lake waters. In the days after the landfall, all but 11,000 city residents of the Crescent City were evacuated or had already fled before the storm. All roads leading into New Orleans and roads along the Mississippi Gulf Coast were affected by Hurricane Katrina.

A list of roads closed due to storm relate damage in the Deep South:

Louisiana

  • Baton Rouge area roads

    • Although Baton Rouge was well west of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, the influx of thousands of New Orleans refuges has taken its toll on the local area road network. Adjustments to the signals along main streets and arterials, removal of some signals and restricted left-turn access, and the possible restriping of Interstate 110 to allow six lanes of traffic instead of four are underway to improve the situation.3

  • New Orleans area roads -

    • As of October 18, 2005, all of the major arteries through the New Orleans metropolitan area are open in some capacity. These include Interstates 10 , 510, and 610, Interstate 55, Interstate 310, the U.S. 11 span between New Orleans and Slidell, and the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. Tolls resumed along the Crescent City Connection Bridge and the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. See the LADOTD Interstate Map for a brief overview of current closures.

  • See http://www.wwltv.com/traffic/ for updated Parish Road closures information.

  • Interstate 10 twin spans over Lake Pontchartrain.

    • The 5.4-mile long bridges that span Lake Pontchartrain between U.S. 11 at Irish Bayou and the North Shore at Slidell suffered to tremendous damage. Many portions of the bridge deck were toppled by Hurricane Katrina's storm surge ala the Interstate 10 Escambia Bay Bridges in Pensacola due to Hurricane Ivan. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LDOTD) announced on September 9, 2005 that a 45-day $30.9-million project will restore at least three lanes of traffic between St. Tammany and Orleans Parish. Crews will first repair the least damaged of the two spans to accommodate at least one lane of traffic in each direction by salvaging as many of the precast concrete bridge deck portions from the more damaged bridge for use on the least damaged span. In conjunction with that project, contractors will affix the more damaged bridge with temporary metal panels to allow for one lane of traffic on that bridge. Completion of overall project was expected by January 2006.

    Boh Bros. Construction Co. completed the repairs of one of the twin bridges 14 days ahead of schedule. The eastbound span opened to two-way traffic on October 14, 2005 with a speed limit of 50 mph. The westbound span reopened on January 5, 2006 with the addition of temporary metal truss spans to carry one lane of traffic.13 Since then the bridge now carries two lanes of traffic with a 45 mph restricted speed limit and no shoulders. Periodic lane closures occur regularly between 9 am and 1 pm Monday through Thursday. The bridge carries one lane of traffic.14 Updated August 23, 2007

    Boh Bros. Construction Co., of New Orleans, the winning bidder of the bridge repair contract, will undertake bridge maintenance of the repaired spans for the next three years after completion of the initial project. During the first quarter of 2006, LADOTD will seek bids for a pair of replacement spans for the Interstate 10 Lake Pontchartrain crossing. The new spans will travel at a higher elevation above the lake waters and carry and overall six lanes. Completion of the new spans may take up to three years. All funding for the aforementioned projects are covered under the special funding package from Congress passed September 12, 2005.1 The federal government will foot the $600 million bill for the replacement spans.13

  • Chef Menteur Pass Bridge - U.S. 90.

    The truss bridge over the Chef Menteur Pass in east New Orleans remains closed as of November 30, 2005 due to structural damage. Repairs of the span are expected to be completed by late January of 2006. U.S. 90 otherwise is fully open to traffic from the Rigolets Bridge east to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Updated November 30, 2005

  • Movable bridges in eastern Louisiana

    • From the "DOTD says 22 movable bridges damaged in area affected by Katrina" LADOTD press release, September 16, 2005:

    Following is a list of the 17 state-owned bridges damaged in the storm, the contractor assigned and estimated repair time, if available:

    1. Bayou Liberty bridge, La. 433, in St. Tammany Parish: total repair of pontoon bridge, Coastal Bridges, estimated six months.
    2. Chef Menteur, U.S. 90, Orleans Parish: electrical/mechanical repairs, Boh Brothers, 60 days. Bridge reopened in 2006.
    3. Rigolets, U.S. 90, Orleans Parish: electrical/mechanical repairs, Coastal Bridges, 30 days; a new high rise bridge is under construction as of 2007 to replace the original bridge.
    4. Bayou Barataria, La. 302, Jefferson: electrical/mechanical repairs, Boh Brothers, seven days.
    5. Judge Perez, La. 23, Plaquemines Parish: electrical, mechanical and machinery house repairs, General Engineering and Construction.
    6. North Draw, U.S. 11 over Lake Pontchartrain, Orleans Parish: electrical/mechanical repairs, Boh Brothers.
    7. East Pearl River, U.S. 90, on the Mississippi-Louisiana border, St. Tammany Parish: electrical/mechanical repairs, CEC, estimated 30 days.
    8. West Pearl River, U.S. 90, on the Mississippi-Louisiana border, St. Tammany Parish: electrical/mechanical repairs, CEC.
    9. Madisonville, La. 22 over the Tchefuncte, St. Tammany: electrical/mechanical repairs, contract pending.
    10. Bonfouca, La. 433, St. Tammany: electrical/mechanical repairs, contract pending.
    11. West Larose, La. 1 over the Intracoastal Waterway, Lafourche: electrical/mechanical repairs, no contract. (Electrical work already has been performed by E.P. Breaux to make the bridge operational, but other major work remains to be done.)
    12. Golden Meadow, La. 308, over Bayou Lafourche, Lafourche Parish: roof repair, no contract.
    13. Galliano, La. 308, over Bayou Lafourche, Lafource Parish; repairs completed.
    14. Yscloskey, La. 46, St. Bernard: electrical/mechanical repairs, no contract.
    15. IHNC St. Claude, La. 46, Orleans Parish, no contract.
    16. IHNC Danziger, U.S. 90, Orleans Parish, no contract.
    17. IHNC Claiborne, La. 39, Orleans Parish, no contract.

Mississippi

From MississippiTrafficWatch.com (MDOT): MDOT has cleared all state highways for travel except U.S. 90; however, the Highway Patrol discourages non-emergency travel in the Gulf Coast region.

  • Interstate 10 West Pascagoula Bridges

    • The lengthy span of Interstate 10 between Gautier and Moss Point suffered severe damage during the height of Katrina. The strong winds pushed a barge into the bridge causing several of the decking components to shift. MDOT restored one lane of traffic in each direction of Interstate 10 by using the undamaged westbound span for a distance of three miles. A 31-day repair contract for the span was let on Saturday September 10, 2005 with an expected completion by early October.4 With the above stated, the $6.5-million repair project was completed in just 20 days by October 2, 2005.12

  • U.S. 90 along the Gulf Coast

    • The 1.9-mile bridge between Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian was virtually destroyed by the Hurricane Katrina storm surge. The 1.6-mile bridge over Biloxi Bay suffered the same fate between Biloxi and Ocean Springs. Additionally, several segments of the four-lane divided highway were washed away by the rising Gulf of Mexico during the height of the storm. Repair work is underway on the roadway. Bridge replacement projects however may take up to two years to complete.4 Otherwise U.S. 90 remained closed from Bay St. Louis to Ocean Springs. All other roads in southern Mississippi are open to traffic.9

    Adam Froehlig posted an update on the situation to misc.transport.road on September 27, 2005:

      MDOT has submitted a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the two main bridge projects it has along US 90 in the wake of Katrina: the Bay St. Louis and Biloxi-Ocean Springs bridges. The two bridge replacement projects will both be Design-Build projects. Both projects will build new high-rise bridges at each location (probably with 65 ft of vertical clearance) as well as partially or fully replace bridges immediately nearby. The nearby bridges in both cases carry US 90 over the parallel CSX tracks. At Ocean Springs the CSX underpass will be replaced entirely, while at Henderson Point only part of the bridge will be replaced....of note is that the Henderson Point CSX underpass was just built in 2000.

      According to the RFQs, MDOT has received a Categorical Exclusion for the Bay St. Louis bridge, probably because even though it will be elevated it will remain 4 lanes. In layman's terms, this means they won't have to do environmental studies on the bridge replacement, and in fact the project is expected to be let in December with a target completion of June '07.

      MDOT will be performing an Environmental Assessment for the Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge replacement, presumably because the replacement will have more lanes than the destroyed bridge. That said, curiously this project has the same time schedule as the Bay St. Louis replacement. Perhaps they'll be allowed to do an accelerated environmental overview given the critical nature of the project in light of Katrina and reconstruction efforts.

      The RFQs are posted on MDOT's web site at http://www.gomdot.com/business/bridge/

    Federal officials secured $600 million in emergency funding to rebuild both U.S. 90 Mississippi bridges in the weeks following Hurricane Katrina. The U.S. 90 bridge between Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian reopened to two lanes of traffic on May 17, 2007. The new span travels up to 85 feet above the water below, removing the need for a draw span. Crews are hoping to restore four overall lanes between Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian in mid-November. Completion of half (two-lanes) the Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge is also scheduled for November 13, 2007.15 Updated August 23, 2007

Looking east at what's left of the Biloxi-Ocean Springs bridge from the eastbound approach to the span. The only section of the span to survive was the crest and draw span. The movable bridge remains up. Photos taken by Robert Lee (09/11/05).

Alabama

See ALDOT's Emergency Road Closures for a listing storm related construction and closings.

  • U.S. 90 & U.S. 98 Truck Cochrane-Africatown Bridge

    • Winds from Hurricane Katrina blew a 13,000-ton oil platform, the PSS Chemul, into the cable-stayed bridge over the Mobile River near the Alabama State Docks. The large platform, used to house oil rig workers out on the Gulf of Mexico, was under construction to expand and refit the vessel at the Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc. facility on Blakeley Island when hurricane force winds pushed it from its mooring northward. The platform scraped against the bottom of the 140-foot-high bridge and remained pinned under the span for several hours.5

    Fortunately after a brief closing by inspectors, it was determined that the damage done to the span was not severe enough to force closing of the bridge. The innermost lanes of the Cochrane-Africatown Bridge reopened to traffic on August 31, 2005. Repair estimates are less than $1 million,6 and it is hoped that all work will be completed by the end of 2005.11

  • Interstate 10 (Mobile Bayway) and U.S. 90 & 98 (Battleship Causeway)

    • The Bankhead Tunnel was closed during the height of the storm but reopened following Katrina's departure. The Wallace Tunnel suffered minor flooding and remained open to at least one lane of traffic per direction in the wake of the departing storm. ALDOT crews quickly repaired travel lanes along Battleship Causeway eroded by the storm surge. All lanes were reopened by September 2, 2005. The Exit 30 eastbound on-ramp to Interstate 10 however remains closed as five concrete bridge spans associated with ramp were destroyed.78

  • Dauphin Island Bridge (Alabama 193)

    • While Dauphin Island suffered tremendous damage, the causeway linking the barrier island to South Mobile County reopened to two lanes of traffic on September 2, 2005.8 80% of the homes of Dauphin Island were complete destroyed or suffered major damage due to the winds and surge of Hurricane Katrina.

Sources:

  1. "DOTD puts I-10 "Twin Span" bridge on 45-day fast-track schedule." September 9, 2005.
  2. "DOTD inspects movable bridges in hurricane-affected area." September 7, 2005.
  3. "State DOTD improving BR traffic, investigating lane reversals." September 11, 2005.
  4. "Damaged roads causing problems." The Mobile Register, September 10, 2005.
  5. "Oil platform slams into span." The Mobile Register, August 30, 2005.
  6. "Authorities reopen bridge struck by errant oil rig." The Mobile Register, August 31, 2005.
  7. Vaulin, Leo. "Thursday status from Mobile - clear sailing on I-10." Online posting, Yahoo Groups - Southeast Roads and Transport, September 1, 2005.
  8. Goodman, Cody. "Mobile Traffic Update, Friday 3:30 PM." Online posting, Yahoo Groups - Southeast Roads and Transport, September 2, 2005.
  9. "STATEWIDE ROADWAY INFO (Katrina) 9/12-9/30.
    10. September 13, 2005.
  10. "Road closure and traffic updates - updated Sept. 8th." WWL-TV, September 8, 2005.
  11. "DOT: Bridge could be fixed by year's end." The Mobile Register, September 20, 2005.
  12. "I-10 reopens in Pascagoula." NBC 15 - WPMI, October 2, 2005.
  13. "Hurricane-devastated bridge reopens fully to traffic." New Orleans Times-Picayune, January 6, 2006.
  14. Jason Hoffman, email: "Some corrections on Louisiana roads..." August 13, 2007.
  15. "Bridge builders can look to Coast" Biloxi Sun Herald, August 3, 2007.

Page Updated August 26, 2007.