DELCAMBRE, La. (KLFY) – The Delcambre Bridge on LA 14 moves traffic over the Delcambre Canal. The DOTD plans to spend two nights repairing the counterweights — which have developed some cracks over time.

The work began Tuesday night at around 8 p.m. Crews will wrap up around 6 a.m. 

LA 14 will be closed from Railroad Street and Jefferson Island Road while the work is being done.

“The counterweight’s there to help lift the span of the bridge when we have to open it to marine traffic, and any time you have a large mass of concrete like that sometimes it develops those types of cracks,” DOTD District Administrator Bill Oliver explained.

“We fish out of here a bit so when we pass under it you can tell it’s aged a bit,” said Scott Toups of Erath. “I’ve never really taken a close enough look at it to see if it’s really damaged or anything like that but you can tell it’s got some age on it.”

The DOTD said it’s not an expensive project at $43,465. Crews will use an epoxy to seal the cracks to prevent further deterioration. The deck of the bridge is lifted often.

“You lift the entire span of the bridge to let the boat traffic, there’s a lot of shrimp boats there, we have somebody man that 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Oliver said.

The bridge was built in 1998. The U.S. Coast Guard regulates bridges like this one. Oliver said the project is being done to maintain the integrity of the counterweights.

“If part of it were to fall off it could cause a failure of the bridge or cause us not to be able to lift the bridge,” Oliver said.

The work will continue Wednesday night from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. The DOTD said the entire project should be finished by Thursday morning.