2006 Top Ten (1): I-10 Twin Spans bridge over Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana

This post presents the first of my picks for the top ten American road projects of 2006. Rather than choosing according to quantitative criteria such as cost (it would be a major undertaking to obtain and assemble all the information from more than fifty state DOTs and more than a dozen turnpike authorities to make such a ranking possible), I am simply picking projects I am familiar with which I consider to have national or interregional significance. I am deliberately excluding design-build projects, and each project must have been advertised, had its bid opening, or began construction in 2006.

Today's project is the I-10 Twin Spans bridge over Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana. Ultimately it will replace the existing structure, which was built in the early 1960's and was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Two crucial parts of this project, which is valued at $800 million overall, went to bid in 2006. The most expensive contract overall has Louisiana DOTD project number 450-17-0025, received a low bid of $396 million when bids were opened on April 12, 2006, and will build most of the over-water spans for the new bridge except for a ship passage (about one mile long). The ship passage contract, under Louisiana DOTD project number 450-17-0028, had its bid opening on November 15 and is valued at $167 million.

Earlier contracts were already active by late 2005, including one which called for one of the existing spans to be cannibalized to create a temporary roadway on the other.