By the end of April, a joint venture called Audubon Bridge Constructors plans to begin pulling cable on the John James Audubon Bridge at St. Francisville, La., the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America. The JV has been on the project since April 2006, contending with a vast, wet site and water levels that vary as much as 40 ft. The bridge is expected to be completed in mid-2011.
The 2.44-mile-long bridge has a 1,583-ft main span and two 520-ft-tall H-frame pylons. By the mid-April, ABC was completing the horizontal crossbeams of the H-frames. The towers were at an elevation of 376 ft and on their way to a July completion. ABC started placing deck steel at the end of March.