I-10 Twin Span Bridge

The I-10 Twin Span Bridge, known locally as the Twin Spans, consists of two parallel trestle bridges. These parallel bridges cross the eastern end of Lake Pontchartrain in southern Louisiana from New Orleans, Louisiana to Slidell, Louisiana. The current twin spans were constructed in the second half of the 2000s after the original bridges were extensively damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The first span opened to eastbound traffic on July 9, 2009. On April 7, 2010, the second span was opened to traffic and the old twin spans were permanently closed to traffic. The approaches to the westbound lanes were completed with a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 8, 2011 and the opening of all 6 lanes the next morning. The original Twin Span bridges will be demolished in the near future, with portions being used for a public pier in Slidell, LA, and the rest as an underwater reef.

The original bridges were opened at a short ceremony on December 21, 1965 and were each constructed with 433 65-foot concrete segments. Each span was two lanes wide, and they had a clearance of 8.5 feet (2.6 m) for most of the bridge, with a 65 feet (20 m) clearance at the bascule bridge section.