HALE BOGGS MEMORIAL BRIDGE

The Hale Boggs Memorial Bridge, which crosses the Mississippi River at Luling in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, opened in 1983 as part of I-310 and was the first major cable-stayed bridge built in the United States.

The main structure is 2,745 ft (837 m) long with a main span of 1,222 ft (372 m) providing a navigation channel of 1,187 ft x 133 ft (362 m x 41 m). The bridge deck is 82 ft (25 m) wide and carries four lanes of traffic with a full shoulder on each side. During several inspections, corrosion was discovered in the original stay cable system composed of parallel ¼" wires (up to 307 wires per cable).

SYSTRA IBT developed a cable replacement strategy that minimizes impact to traffic and modifications to the existing structure. The stays have been replaced with a modern parallel strand system with superior durability and maintenance characteristics. A system of temporary cables and saddles on top of the pylons enable the bridge to remain in service throughout the stay replacement procedure without the need for load restrictions.