Road construction in Logansport, Louisiana
I need a map of Logansport! A brand new completely up-to-date directional map showing me where’s what and what’s where. I really, really need one, as all of the construction is a bit disorienting to an already “directionally” challenged person such as myself.
Having said that, it is also partly the case that we have been having quite a fun time trying to figure it all out. Except in three o’clock traffic. That challenge is not so much exciting.
I can’t quite guess whether all of the construction is fun for those who live and work in Logansport or is a pain in the rear-end. I can only imagine, though, it will all bring new life into the neat town along the Sabine River once it is complete.
And, there is that very important fact that the project, which is centered around the construction of two brand new bridges across the Sabine River into Texas, was very much needed. Far more needed than the map I keep thinking about.
This afternoon, I spoke to the foreman of the bridge project, Brad Wright of James Construction out of Alexandria. A very nice guy who truly loves bridges (he never actually said that, I could just kind of tell), Wright said his crews are learning as they prepare to take the old bridge down just how in need of replacement it was. He said the bridge may have lasted a few more years, but the time had definitely come to do something. He noted that some of the bridge’s piers have sustained quite a bit of wear and tear (well, actually are a bit damaged).
According to bridgehunters.com (a website with an owner who clearly loves bridges as he/she/they offer up mega details on bridges of all sizes, shapes, ages and conditions all over the United States), the U.S. 84 bridge appraisal as of last count was “structurally deficient.” The appraisal notes the superstructure of the bridge (the span, which receives the live load) was “Serious” (3 out of 9 rating) and the substructure of the bridge (the abutment, piers and other support structures) was given a “Fair” rating (5 out of nine).
Oh, and the sufficiency rating for this bridge was a 15.7 out of 100. I don’t know much about bridges, but that doesn’t sound so good. It really kind of sounds awful. I’m thinking Mr. Wright was being on the kind side to point out merely that “the time had come” to replace the bridge.
Wright explained the removal of the bridge will continue through September or October. It will be a tedious bit by bit, piece by piece project, with no dynamite or implosion or quick blast-away involved (my kids wanted to know about the dynamite so I felt inclined to ask).
More on this project in an upcoming post I will make (in the next day or two or three or four, but no more than four…)
In the meantime, I hope the street routes haven’t changed too much by the time I go back. Or perhaps more changes will just add to the adventure of it all.
Here is some video footage taken around the bridge and Logansport this afternoon.