Carries 4 lanes of I-10 Other name(s) 20 mile bridge Construction started 1971 Opened 1973 | Maintained by LA DOTD Total length 29,290 m Bridge type Girder bridge | |
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Location St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, Iberville Parish, Louisiana Similar Atchafalaya Basin, Manchac Swamp Bridge, Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, Horace Wilkinson Bridge, Tianjin Grand Bridge | ||
The Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, also known as the Louisiana Airborne Memorial Bridge, is a pair of parallel bridges in the U.S. state of Louisiana between Baton Rouge and Lafayette which carries Interstate 10 over the Atchafalaya Basin. With a total length of 96,095 feet (29,290 m) or 18.2 miles, it is the 3rd longest bridge in the US and the second longest on the interstate system and fourteenth-longest in the world by total length.
Contents
- Map of Atchafalaya Basin Bridge Louisiana USA
- Bridge renamed
- Welcome center
- Bridge condition
- Cameras
- References
Map of Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, Louisiana, USA
The bridge includes two exits: one for Whiskey Bay (LA 975) and another for Butte La Rose (LA 3177). While the bridges run parallel for most of their length, they merge when crossing the Whiskey Bay Pilot Channel and the Atchafalaya River. The average daily traffic count is (as of 2011) 24,540 vehicles.
Accidents occur frequently near the two river crossings as both are very narrow and lack shoulders. Accidents along the bridge can be problematic as the Atchafalaya Basin is sparsely inhabited. In 1999, Governor Mike Foster lowered the speed limit on the bridge from 70 MPH to 60 MPH. In 2003, the Louisiana Legislature enacted new traffic regulations for the bridge. The speed limit for 18-wheelers was lowered to 55 MPH, and they must remain in the right lane while crossing the bridge.
Bridge renamed
The United States Army Airborne Forces (paratroopers and glider soldiers) was created by executive order and the 82nd Airborne Division was formed at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana in March 1942. One of the main objectives of the division, and all airborne divisions was for paratroopers and glider borne forces to seize bridges for regular follow on forces to use. The 82nd Airborne Division Association put forth a challenge in 1988, to member chapters in all states, to pursue having a bridge in their state designated as an Airborne Memorial Bridge.
The Acadiana Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association, created January 1980, in Lafayette, Louisiana with headquarters in Lafayette, Louisiana, petitioned the Louisiana Legislature and on July 10, 1989, act 793 was passed, and the bridge was renamed the Louisiana Airborne Memorial Bridge.
Welcome center
There is a visitors center at mile marker 121 (La. 3177), with 18 wheeler parking, and the Acadiana chapter secured funding to erect a monument to the 82nd Airborne Division which was dedicated on October 20, 1990.
Bridge condition
As of September 2010, inspection showed the deck condition rating: satisfactory (6 out of 9), the superstructure condition rating: satisfactory (6 out of 9), the substructure condition rating: satisfactory (6 out of 9), and the sufficiency rating: 92.9 (out of 100)
Cameras
Cameras are mounted on the bridge (viewable to the public) at the beginning of the west side at mile marker 121 (LA 3177) east and west, at mile marker 124.5 east and west, at mile marker 127 (Whiskey Bay and LA 975) east and west, at mile marker 131.5 (Butte Larose east and west, and at the east end at mile marker 135 (LA 3000/Ramah Rd.) east and west