I-10 Twin Span Bridge

The I-10 Twin Span Bridge, a nearly 6 mile causeway officially known as the Frank Davis "Naturally N'Awlins" Memorial Bridge, consists of two parallel trestle bridges. These parallel bridges cross the eastern end of Lake Pontchartrain in southern Louisiana from New Orleans to Slidell. The current bridge spans were constructed in the second half of the 2000s after the original bridges were extensively damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The first span opened to eastbound traffic on July 9, 2009. On April 7, 2010, the second span was opened to traffic and the old twin spans were permanently closed to traffic.The approaches to the westbound lanes were completed with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 8, 2011, and the opening of all six lanes the next morning. The original Twin Span bridges were demolished shortly after the replacement spans opened. A short portion remains in use as a public fishing pier in Slidell. The debris from the demolition was used to line the nearby lake bottom as an underwater reef.On August 1, 2014, the bridge was officially named the Frank Davis "Naturally N'Awlins" Memorial Bridge to honor the former WWL-TV News personality Frank Joseph Davis (1942-2013) who often fished near the bridge.Original Twin SpanThe original bridges were opened at a short ceremony on December 21, 1965 and were each constructed with 433 65-foot concrete segments. Each span was two lanes wide, and they had a clearance of 8.5ft for most of the bridge, with a 65ft clearance at the bascule bridge section.