ST. MARTIN PARISH — On Wednesday morning, the Bayou Amy Bridge in Henderson was operating under one lane due to a crack.
Henderson resident Gussie Arnaud said three months ago he noticed the Bayou Amy bridge had a crack.
"It was breaking up a little bit before,” Arnaud said. “It was rough to pass, you had to slow down."
Mayor Sherbin Collette said they've been dealing with the bridge cracking for nearly 10 years, and this past weekend's storm was the breaking point.
"I got a call earlier this morning that they had a crack on the edge of the bridge that was collapsing,” Collette said.
“We've been dealing with it for quite a while. We never know when it's gonna happen. Ofcourse, all the rain had a lot to do with it again."
Collette placed cones where the crack is, closing off a lane.
He said the bridge cracks at least two to three times a year and is always repaired with patchwork by the DOTD.
"I get a call, I ride all the roads, if I notice it, I call them,” Collette said. “They come do a little BandAid. But, at least it helps. It keeps the road open.”
He said this time around, the bridge is going to require more than just patchwork.
“It’s a little worse than we had in the past because if another piece breaks off of it, it'll be positively unpassable on that side,” Collette said.
Drivers like Arnaud try to avoid driving over the crack.
"I usually, instead of passing where it's breaking, I usually pass on this side because you can break your vehichle,” Arnaud said.
Collette said there's another factor besides rain that contributes to the bridge cracking.
"The amount of weight that passes on this road is unbelievable,” Collette said.
“We have a lot of oil field equipment, big trucks, tanker trucks and everything else that pass, so that doesn't help.”
As only one lane is open, which Collette feels is potentially dangerous, he hopes the DOTD fixes the bridge quickly.
'I want to do something before there's actually an accident,” Collette said.
And Arnaud is for a permanent fix as well.
"Yeah, it needs to be fixed because you can't go a good speed cause it's rough,” Arnaud said.
DOTD crews were there to inspect the bridge, and Collette said more would be showing up to lay down asphalt as a permanent fix.
