Cliff Darby

Rode through in mid-June of 2018 and work is underway to either replace or bypass this bridge, as well as other bridges on MS 18.

I had to open my big mouth.... looks like all the trusses on MS 18 are in the process of being replaced or at the least bypassed.

Kinda funny how the Google Earth streetview car crossed in the night time and the view is basically worthless.

Roger that, David. I ride by this bridge somewhat frequently on my motorcycle, but I always pay more attention to the old railroad trestle right up the bayou ;) Wish I had pictures of it!

I think the build date for this bridge is inaccurate, based on the design of the bridge, and the traffic estimate coming from before the "build date" of 1991. A bridge appears at this location on the 1949 topographical map, so I would assume this bridge is at least that old.

Thanks for the excellent new info and pic, James! Would you mind sharing how we can find images like what you posted, as well as the contract and construction info? I would love to do my own independent research on other bridges.

Specific to this bridge, we could narrow down the exact date of closing / abandonment to when the levee was constructed here, as the levee was plopped directly over old SR 20 / Highway 1. I imagine both the old route and current route were open concurrently at least until the levee was constructed, severing the route.

From the satelite view this appears to not headwind bridge. Was the swing bridge possibly replaced?

Wish I was closer and could check out this bridge! IDK if it is open or not; Historic Aerials seems to show it open in 1994. Hard to tell after that. Seems like an odd place to build a bridge in the 1960s, though I suppose I could see a need for a cut-across between 17 and 577.

What a beautiful bridge!!

Wood decks like this scare the mess out of me! What a neat bridge, though. Glad to hear it has avoided the torch thus far.

Thanks for the updates, Roger!

While I typically avoid any sort of culvert when considering historic bridges, I wanted to get some opinions on REALLY old examples on original auto trails / US highways. For example, there is a culvert built on the original US 71 / Jefferson Highway circa 1931. The road is all but abandoned, as it was bypassed when US 71 was straightened in the 1950s, and the culvert / road are near an abandoned railroad, complete with old-style X-ing sign. So while the culvert itself is not especially "cool", the surrounding area has lots of ties to history. I figured I would gain some others' opinions before I added this to the site. Thank you for your thoughts.

Awesome. Thanks so much for the update! Glad to see a picture, as well! The through-trusses are dwindling in our state, so its good to see one extant and somewhat used.

Historic Aerials confirms this was on the Jefferson Highway, as you can clearly make out the old alignment that continued through Sparrow Lane's intersection with Kateland Road on the 1955 imagery.

Historic Aerials may be my favorite web page :)

I gotta say, I'm not sure this bridge is extant, much less open to traffic. Maybe a local will chime in, as this is a few hours north of me in Cenla.