Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label New Orleans

The Bridges, Crossings, and Structures of the Lower Mississippi River: An Introduction

Welcome to home page for Gribblenation's series on the bridges, crossings, and structures of the lower Mississippi River! Here you will find links to information about the many bridges, ferries, and flood control structures located along the river between the Mississippi & Ohio Rivers confluence near Cairo, IL and the mouth of the Mississippi River at the Head of Passes Light near Venice, LA. The bridges of the lower Mississippi River are a diverse collection of impressive engineering achievements. Many of these bridges were modern marvels at the time of their construction and most of them are still among the largest bridges of their respective types in the United States. In addition to the numerous monumental bridges in this region, there are multiple large-scale flood control structures and spillways that supplement the river's extensive levee system. These structures are strategically placed and help regulate the flow rate and level of the river during periods of high wa...

Crescent City Connection (New Orleans, LA)

The Crescent City Connection is a massive dual-span steel truss bridge that spans the lower Mississippi River at downtown New Orleans, about 95 river miles upstream from the mouth of the great river at the Head of Passes Light. If counted as a single bi-directional highway bridge, the parallel spans combine to form the single busiest bridge on the Mississippi River and its importance as a linchpin in the region’s transportation network cannot be overstated. While there have been various schemes over the years to construct bridges downriver from Algiers Point, this bridge has been the southernmost bridge on the Mississippi River since its initial construction in the 1950s. The years immediately following the end of World War II were a transformational period in the history of New Orleans. Already one of the great economic and cultural centers of the American Deep South, it was recognized at this time that major changes and improvements to the city’s transportation infrastructure would b...