A swath of Hurricane Katrina-wrought destruction on bridges and highways has cut off much access to Southern Louisiana from the east. Two major east-west connectors, Interstate 10 and U. S. 90, are badly damaged in Mississippi.
Bridged sections of I-10 are unfit for passage because of missing and shifted spans near Slidell, La., says Dan Miller, structural engineer with the Mississippi Dept. of Transportation. The road portion between Alabama and Louisiana was reopened on Sept. 1. Other segments remain closed indefinitely near New Orleans because the some 40% of the twin span bridge section over Lake Pontchartrain is damaged or gone.