Huey P. Long Bridge (Baton Rouge): Difference between revisions

Huey P. Long Bridge
Huey P. Long Bridge
	Huey P. Long Bridge from the northwest
Coordinates	30°30′25″N 91°11′51″W / 30.50694°N 91.19750°W
Carries	4 lanes of US 190; 1 Kansas City Southern rail line
Crosses	Mississippi River
Locale	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Official name	Huey P. Long - O.K. Allen Bridge
Other name(s)	Old Bridge
Maintained by	Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development[citation needed]
ID number	611700071000001
Characteristics
Design	Cantilever truss bridge
Total length	5,879 feet (1,792 m)
Clearance below	113 feet (34 m)
History
Construction cost	$8.4 million
Opened	August 1940
Statistics
Daily traffic	17,300
Location

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Revision as of 03:06, 21 November 2019

The Huey P. Long - O.K. Allen Bridge is a truss cantilever bridge over the Mississippi River carrying US 190 (Airline Highway) and one rail line between East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana and West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana.

Although the bridge is named after former Louisiana governors Huey P. Long and Oscar K. Allen, it is known locally in the Baton Rouge Area as "the old bridge".^[2]

Design

The bridge is similar in design to the Huey P. Long Bridge in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Its lanes are narrow and during cold weather, it has a tendency to ice over.

State of repair

The bridge itself is currently in a poor state of repair; the girder foundations on both railroad approach spans are beginning to show hairline cracks, but engineers have reassured the city that the bridge is not in any imminent danger.^[2] The bridge has been repainted several times since its construction, including in the mid-1960s when the bridge was repainted orange.

The bridge was originally painted blue, but dust from the Kaiser Aluminum plant on the southeast bank of the river kept coating the bridge with aluminum oxide (bauxite). Finally, the state gave up trying to keep the bridge blue, and went with the orange color of the dust.^[3] ^[4]

Planned Interstate 410

The bridge was once planned as part of an Interstate 410.

Accidents

Only one person is reported to have driven off the edge of the bridge. In 1945 a cargo truck driver headed eastbound careened off the sides. The driver fell through the windshield and was crushed on a dock as he landed before his truck on the same spot.^[2] The scars from the accident can still be seen on the dock to one's right as approaching the east end of the eastbound span.

In popular culture

The bridge is featured in a scene in the 1982 Richard Pryor film, The Toy.

References

^ Will Sentel (December 3, 2013), Old bridge getting new look, The Advocate, archived from the original on August 10, 2014, retrieved August 7, 2014
^ ^a ^b ^c "Paint Party". The Riverside Reader. [Port Allen, LA] October 1, 2012. Pg. 1. Print
^ AA Roads - US Highway 190 Mississippi River Bridge Archived June 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^ John Weeks.com - Huey P. Long Bridge

[1] Will Sentel (December 3, 2013), Old bridge getting new look, The Advocate, archived from the original on August 10, 2014, retrieved August 7, 2014

[whatis-2] "Paint Party". The Riverside Reader. [Port Allen, LA] October 1, 2012. Pg. 1. Print

[3] AA Roads - US Highway 190 Mississippi River Bridge Archived June 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

[4] John Weeks.com - Huey P. Long Bridge

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 ==See also==
 * {{Portal-inline|Transport}}
-* {{Portal-inline|Infrastructure}}
+* {{Portal-inline|Engineering}}
 * {{Portal-inline|United States}}
 * [[List of crossings of the Lower Mississippi River]]