Maintained by LaDOTD Total length 809 m Location Belle Chasse | Opened 10 September 1968 Longest span 46 m Bridge type Vertical-lift bridge | |
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Carries 2 lanes of LA 23 North Crosses Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Locale Belle Chasse and Terrytown, Louisiana Clearance above 100 feet (open), 40 feet (closed) Body of water Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Similar Belle Chasse Tunnel, Danziger Bridge, Dauphin Island Bridge, Blackburn Point Bridge, Galveston Causeway | ||
The Judge Perez Bridge, also known as the Belle Chasse Bridge, is a vertical-lift bridge in the U.S. state of Louisiana which carries northbound Louisiana Highway 23 over the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between Belle Chasse and Terrytown. The bridge is paired with the Belle Chasse Tunnel which carries southbound LA 23. Construction began in March 1967, and the bridge opened for traffic in September 1968. It has been plagued with mechanical issues since it opened. Commuters have had to back down off the bridge due to a malfunction.
The bridge was built to relieve traffic from the Belle Chasse Tunnel. It was part of a parish project of four-laning Highway 23 throughout the road's entire length to Venice. According to the Plaquemines Gazette, the $3.3 million structure was built by Plaquemines Parish using its Parish Royalty Road Fund without charge to local taxpayers. Boh Brothers worked on its construction.