My sister made a post on my Facebook page regarding the I-10 Bridge. It seems that our mom wouldn't drive across that bridge even back in the late 60's when my parents moved here from Texas. She must have had a 6th sense about such things because now, there are a lot of people who refuse to use that bridge for travel east and west of the area.

According to an article by Andrew W. Griffin in The Red Dirt Report, the safety rating for the infamous bridge is a 24. Let me put that in perspective for you; the bridge in Minneapolis that collapsed, had a safety rating of 50.

The Red Dirt Report also claims to have a letter from the US Govt Civil Engineering Reports site stating:

I have been informed that the bridge over Lake Charles in Louisiana on I-10
is rated structurally unsound by the State of Louisiana. My employer has
issued an advisory to all company employees that no company owned vehicle
may use the bridge.

"This advisory is submitted as a directive which restricts the use of the
Calcasieu River and Lake Charles Bridge on Interstate Highway #10 in the
area of Lake Charles, Louisiana (Coordinates 30 degrees 14 minutes and
13.28 seconds N and 93 degrees 14 minutes and 48.41 seconds West).

The above noted bridge is restricted by to "No Travel". This no
travel restriction applies to all vehicles owned and or operated by
. Travel in this area must be directed to Interstate Highway #210
(Lake Charles By-Pass) or other routes which by-pass and avoid the above
noted bridge.

The communication goes on to say that "the state of Louisiana has rated this bridge at 2.4 on the National Bridge
Inventory Rating Scale of 0 to 9 with 0 being "Failed Condition".

We've been told now that plans are underway to replace the bridge. How long has that promise been hanging in the air? Well, I know for a fact that, when we moved into our current address at 900 North Lakeshore Drive, that we were all told that it would be a temporary location and that the access to the new bridge would cut through our current site. We've been in this "temporary" location now for almost 15 years. How many new bridges could we have built in 15 years?

I fear it's going to take some catastrophic happening before we see any work on a new bridge. I guess it's sort of like the promise of better schools in Louisiana. It's a great campaign promise and that's about it.

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