Katrina-Damaged Bay St. Louis Bridge Demolition/Recycling

With its 120 mph winds and 28-ft storm surge racing towards the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005, causing more than $1 billion in damage to Mississippi’s transportation infrastructure. Like several other upper Gulf Coast cities, Bay Saint Louis was devastated by the hurricane, and the 4-lane Bay St. Louis Bridge on US Highway 90 was severely damaged with many bridge sections displaced or down-dropped at the west edges. For a new bridge to be built, the destroyed bridge needed to be demolished.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS 

• Demolition of the 10,000-linear-footbridge and alignment of a new bridge located in the debris field of the old bridge. 
• The Cashman JV team demolished: 
  • 261 bents (159 left standing after Katrina) 
  • Standard bents – 90 tons (piles & caps) 
  • Batter bents – 171 tons (piles & caps) 
  • Deck and beams – 254 tons 

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS 

• Over 125 tons of debris were placed in offshore reefs. 
• Demolition debris was 100% recycled, primarily by repairing an existing fishing reef (Handkerchief Reef) and used in the construction of a new reef (Bayou Caddy).