It's a road we love, hate, and love to hate. The Atchafalaya Basin Bridge happens to be one of man's greatest accomplishments.
The Atchafalaya is one of the largest wetlands in the United States. For years it was a major barrier, isolating Acadiana from much of the eastern part of the state. Before the interstate came through, a trip to Baton Rouge would take up to three hours, and sometimes more than four hours to get to New Orleans.
As the interstate system was being developed in the 1950s and 60s, a cut straight through the basin was needed. Finding a base to hold the foundation of the crossing took years of research. Samples were taken, and engineers found there was over 90 feet of mud and muck before a more stable sand base where bridge pilings could be drilled. It appears the bridge isn't very high over the water, but some of the pilings holding the bridge deck are over 140 feet deep.
After clearing a 300 foot wide path and digging a canal, prefabricated parts of the bridge were shipped four days from Lake Pontchartrain, through New Orleans into the Mississippi River. They made their way to the Intracoastal Waterway westward to the Atchafalaya River. This was 250 water miles to the job site.
After the pilings were drilled, the caps that would hold the roadway are placed by a barge crane with a 300 ton capacity. The caps were set to a precise line and grade of just 1/16th of an inch. Each prefabricated section of deck bed that holds the roadway weigh 265 tons. They would slowly be hoisted onto the caps, then connected with reinforced steel and concrete. Workers were able to complete about 350 feet of roadway every day. It was opened in 1973, dropping the drive time to Baton Rouge to about an hour and drivers could reach New Orleans in just over two hours.
Today, the bridge carries over 30,000 vehicles each day. The amount of products and materials moving east and west along I-10 is staggering. It also helps connect several ports along the Gulf coast. As efficient the basin bridge is, it also has its bad days. Since 2014, well over 1,000 crashes have occurred on the bridge, stranding drivers for hours. Weather isn't always easy on the bridge either, the ice storm and freeze a couple of years ago closed the bridge for days.
But it's still a modern marvel. At just over 18 miles, it's the third longest bridge in the United States. Only the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge and the Manchac Swamp Bridges are longer. And now that the widening project in St. Martin Parish is complete, traffic is moving more efficiently through the area. This could mean more growth and economic development for Acadiana.
