John James Audubon Bridge (Mississippi River)

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John James Audubon Bridge
Image:John James Audubon Bridge Louisiana.jpg Artist concept of the completed bridge
Carries	4 lanes of LA 10
Crosses	Mississippi River
Locale	Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
Maintained by	LaDOTD
Design	Cable-stayed bridge
Longest span	1,583 feet (482 m)
Total length	12,883 feet (3,927 m)
Width	64 feet (20 m)
Clearance below	65 feet (20 m)
Opening date	Approx 2010
Coordinates	30°43′39″N, 91°21′18″W

The John James Audubon Bridge project is a new Mississippi River crossing between Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana parishes in south central Louisiana.

The bridge--proposed to be the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America when complete--will replace an existing ferry between the communities of New Roads and St. Francisville.

The bridge will also serve as the only bridge structure on the Mississippi River between Natchez, Mississippi and Baton Rouge, Louisiana (approximately 90 river miles).

The Audubon Bridge project will include:

A 2.44-mile (3.93 km) four-lane elevated bridge structure with two 11-foot (3.4 m) travel lanes in each direction with 8-foot (2.4 m) outside shoulders and 2-foot (0.61 m) inside shoulders

Approximately 12 miles (19 km) of two-lane roadway connecting LA 1 east of Hospital Road at New Roads to US 61 south of LA 966 and St. Francisville.

Four new intersections at existing LA 1, LA 10, LA 981 (River Road) and US 61 for entry to and exit from the new roadway and bridge

The project is being constructed by Audubon Bridge Constructors, a joint venture of Flatiron Constructors, Granite Construction and Parsons Transportation Group.

The John James Audubon Bridge project is expected to be complete by summer 2010. As a gateway, it is intended to provide highway traffic where centuries of ferry crossings and longer commutes have been the norm.

Artist John James Audubon dedicated his life to painting all of the birds in North America. He painted 32 of his famous works in his Birds of America series while residing at Oakley Plantation at St. Francisville as a tutor to Eliza Pirrie in 1821.

Naming the new bridge after Audubon is significant to the project because it exemplifies the importance and preservation of the rich natural history of the region. However, construction of the bridge and the highway approaches in West Feliciana Parish has been party to the removal of hundreds of old-growth live oak trees on Highway 61.