US 90 Mermentau River Bridge

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Mermentau River Bridge

The Crowley Post-Signal: February 2 1978

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BH Photo #466253

Map

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Description

The bridge was constructed by the Missouri Valley Bridge Co. of Leavenworth, KS and supervised by Eric L. Erickson, engineer for the Louisiana Highway Commission. Construction began February 1, 1924 and cost about $200,000.

It was opened to traffic on September 26, 1924, replacing a ferry service. The bridge served as part of the Old Spanish Trail, then US 90 beginning in 1926. It was replaced by the current structure in 1979 and demolished by explosion on June 19, 1980 by Tantra Inc. of California.

Facts

Overview: Lost Pennsylvania through truss bridge over Mermentau River on US 90
Location: Mermentau, Acadia Parish, Louisiana, and Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana
Status: Replaced by a new bridge
History: Built 1924; replaced 1979
Builder: - Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co. of Leavenworth, Kansas
Design: High fixed span bridge with a 320' main channel span, resting on four 54' tall reinforced concrete piers, supported on 40' long foundation pilings. Vertical clearance was 20' above maximum high water and 32' above low water. The western approach was 304' long, and the eastern approach was 513' long.
Dimensions: Length of largest span: 320.0 ft.
Total length: 1,137.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude: +30.18977, -92.59072 (decimal degrees)
30°11'23" N, 92°35'27" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 15/539399/3339884 (zone/easting/northing)
Inventory number: BH 88275 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Update Log

February 19, 2020: Updated by Luke: Added categories "Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.", "Mermentau River", "US 90"
February 19, 2020: New photo from Melissa Brand-Welch
February 18, 2020: Added by Roger Collins

Sources

Melissa Brand-Welch - melissabrandwelch [at] msn [dot] com