The Belle Chasse Tunnel was built starting in March 1954 to accommodate the new branch of the

Intracoastal Canal The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following th ...

. After nearly two years of construction, the $2,436,000 structure opened in February 1956 with the Canal beginning operations later that year. The politicians in

Plaquemines Parish Plaquemines Parish (; French: ''Paroisse de Plaquemine'', Louisiana French: ''Paroisse des Plaquemines'', es, Parroquia de Caquis) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 23,515 at the 2020 census, the parish ...

chose to construct a tunnel as opposed to a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

as to enable continuous flow of traffic. According to engineers and various 1956 issues of the ''Plaquemines Gazette'', the tunnel is the first fully automatic underwater tunnel in the world as it did not require any operating personnel. The tunnel has ventilation machinery that automatically change the tunnel's air every two minutes with automatic generators taking over if the machinery fails. Judge Leander Perez enabled the tunnel's construction by passing a constitutional amendment through the Plaquemines Parish Police Jury. He sold bonds towards construction with the

US Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

paying the remainder of the construction fees. When the tunnel opened, it was the first underwater tunnel in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. Shortly after, two new tunnels were built in the state: the Harvey Tunnel which once carried traffic from the

Westbank Expressway U.S. Highway 90 Business (US 90 Bus.) is a business route of U.S. Highway 90 located in and near New Orleans, Louisiana. It runs in a general east–west direction from US 90 in Avondale to a junction with Interstate 10 (I-10) and US& ...

and the Houma Tunnel. The tunnel was the primary means of carrying traffic to and from

Belle Chasse Belle Chasse ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Belle Chasse is part of the Greater New Orleans metropolitan area. The population was 10,579 at the 20 ...

and westbank Plaquemines Parish. Since its opening, hazardous cargo is prohibited from travelling through the tunnel, and numerous additional regulations/restrictions have been enforced. Traffic counts soon overwhelmed the tunnel, and in 1967, construction of the

Judge Perez Bridge The Judge Perez Bridge, also known as the Belle Chasse Bridge, is a vertical-lift bridge in the U.S. state of Louisiana which carries northbound Louisiana Highway 23 over the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between Belle Chasse and Terrytown. The ...

, a

vertical-lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swin ...

, commenced, and that structure opened in 1968 to serve northbound traffic and, whenever the tunnel is closed for maintenance, southbound traffic. Today, the tunnel is still heavily used by commuters to and from

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and surrounding areas. It sports a solid white line that prohibits passing inside the structure. It also experiences flooding problems fairly often and was one of many structures closed after

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

. There have been plans for replacing the tunnel and lift bridge with new and improved high-rise structures, and construction has since started to build a bridge that will replace them.

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=30em Buildings and structures in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana Tunnels in Louisiana Roads in Louisiana Transportation in the New Orleans metropolitan area Intracoastal Waterway Great River Road Tunnels completed in 1956 Transportation in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana Road tunnels in the United States

See also

References