New in New Orleans

We are pleased to report the successful completion of our project to design and supply the expansion joints required for the new Belle Chasse River Bridge in the outskirts of Louisiana’s biggest city.

The new Belle Chasse River Bridge is currently being built to cross the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway near where it branches off from the Mississippi River. It is located close to the existing structure, a movable bridge that must be opened to permit the passage of ships. By constructing a new bridge that is high enough for all ships to pass under, disruption to both bridge traffic and shipping can be completely avoided.

As previously reported, mageba was contracted to design and supply the modular expansion joints required at both ends of the bridge, along with the associated barrier and sidewalk cover plates. The successful completion of the expansion joints’ installation makes the Belle Chasse River Bridge the latest in a long list of bridges in the United States for which mageba has supplied TENSA®MODULAR expansion joints – including such landmark structures as the Tappan Zee Bridge, the Bayonne Bridge, the Queensboro Bridge and the Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge.

Bridge designer and owner: Louisiana Department of Transportation
Contractor: Traylor-Massman, Joint Venture

The new Belle Chasse River Bridge crosses the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway – a navigable inland waterway running approximately 1,050 miles from Florida to Texas

The new Belle Chasse Bridge is being constructed alongside the existing movable structure
(Source: BelleChasseBridge.com)

Two of the TENSA®MODULAR expansion joints as designed and fabricated for the new bridge

The two TENSA®MODULAR expansion joints at each end of the bridge come together at the bridge’s longitudinal axis beneath the concrete traffic barrier’s sliding cover plate – also supplied by mageba