LAFAYETTE PARISH, La. (KLFY) – The new LeBlanc Road Bridge in South Lafayette Parish has been open for a few months now. It crosses Coulee Granges Lateral One.
LCG Project Engineer Alison Lognion said it replaces a bridge that was made of railroad flat cars. It was in such bad shape it had to be posted at 10 tons.
“It was set up on timber piles and so the timber piles deteriorated over time and it just made for a great candidate out here to be able to replace,” Lognion said.
The new three-span bridge is 30 feet wide and 80 feet long.
Construction on the bridge started in March 2017. The work was done by February 23rd of this year. The total project cost just over a million dollars and it was all paid for with parish funds.
“It was a longer closure than normal for our bridges but they experienced a lot of rain events and the bridge site actually flooded twice when we were under construction and there was about two months of total just rain every day,” Lognion explained.
The new bridge is a relief for drivers who had to drive five to ten minutes out of their way during construction.
“Many of the motorists are very thankful. I did have some calls of gratitude,” Lognion said.
There are sugarcane fields in the area so lots of heavy trucks use the road. The bridge gives the traffic access to US 167 Johnston Street.