John James Audubon Bridge

New Roads & St. Francisville, Lousiana, USA

 

Client:  Louisiana Department of Transportation

Completion Date:  2007

Cost:  $334M

Awards:  2012 DBIA Design Excellence Award

                 2012 NSBA Merit Award

                 2013 ENR Best of the Best Bridges

The John James Audubon Bridge project is a crossing of the Mississippi River between Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana parishes in south central Louisiana. The bridge, proposed to be the longest cable-stayed bridge in the Americas,  replaces an existing ferry between New Roads and St. Francisville, Louisiana.  It is the only bridge crossing the Mississippi River between Natchez, Mississippi and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a stretch of approximately 90 nautical miles.  

 

The 334 million dollar, 2.44 mile Audubon Bridge Project’s centerpiece is the 12,000 foot main bridge, a four-lane elevated structure with two 11-foot travel lanes in each direction; 8-foot outside shoulders; and 2-foot inside shoulders. 

 

The remainder of the project consists of seven additional bridges, approximately 12 miles of two-lane roadway connecting New Roads to St. Francisville and the improvement to four intersections of existing roadways. Touchstone Architecture provided bridge aesthetics and conducted many stakeholder input sessions and workshops on behalf of the design team.