DOT 02-06
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Contact: Nancy Singer
Tel.: (202) 366-0660
I-10 Twin Spans Bridge Reopens Ahead of Schedule to Four-Lane Traffic
The west span of the I-10 Twin Spans Bridge in New Orleans, La., will reopen
Friday nine days ahead of schedule, restoring four-lane traffic to the vital
east-west corridor devastated by Hurricane Katrina, U.S. Secretary of
Transportation Norman Y. Mineta announced today.
Repairs were accelerated thanks to a flexible contract with incentives that
rewarded early completion and discouraged missing project deadlines, said Mineta.
The Secretary noted that the Department’s Federal Highway Administration
assisted Louisiana streamline the contracting process for the Twin Spans
reconstruction, allowing work to begin as soon as possible after Katrina.
“We cut red tape and provided the flexibility needed to get the Twin Spans
reopened ahead of schedule so people could get to work, shipments could make it
to stores and hope could return to the hearts of Gulf Coast residents,” said
Mineta. “Restoring roads, bridges and transit systems is the best way to get the
region back up and running again.”
Last year, Mineta provided $25 million from FHWA’s emergency relief program as a
down payment to Louisiana for repairing I-10 and other federally-supported
highways and bridges damaged by Katrina. Congress recently approved the Bush
Administration’s request for additional emergency relief funds for Gulf Coast
rebuilding, providing $2.75 billion for road repair in states that suffered
during the 2005 hurricane season.
“We worked with Louisiana officials to speed the repairs, restore a commercial
link to New Orleans and fulfill the President’s commitment to cut through
bureaucratic hurdles to the Gulf Coast’s recovery,” said acting Federal Highway
Administrator J. Richard Capka.
Capka, Governor Kathleen Blanco and Louisiana Department of Transportation and
Development Secretary Johnny B. Bradberry drove across the bridge from Slidell
to New Orleans Thursday morning, inspecting the final phase of repair work and
the prefabricated bridge sections used to expedite reconstruction. The first
phase of repairs reopened the east span to two lanes of traffic on October 14,
only 47 days after its destruction by the hurricane.