The Krotz Springs Bridge, officially named the Frank and Sal Diesi Bridge, is a pair of

continuous truss bridge A continuous truss bridge is a truss bridge which extends without hinges or joints across three or more supports. A continuous truss bridge may use less material than a series of simple trusses because a continuous truss distributes live loads ...

s in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 ...

which carry

US 190 U.S. Route 190 (US 190) is an east–west United States Highway in Louisiana and Texas. Segments of US 190 will be upgraded to Interstate 14 (I-14); the first segment was opened on January 26, 2017. Route description , - , TX , , - , ...

over the

Atchafalaya River The Atchafalaya River ( french: La Rivière Atchafalaya, es, Río Atchafalaya) is a distributary of the Mississippi River and Red River in south central Louisiana in the United States. It flows south, just west of the Mississippi River, and ...

Krotz Springs Krotz Springs is a town in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Atchafalaya River. The population was 1,198 at the 2010 census, down from 1,219 in 2000. It is part of the Opelousas–Eunice Micropolitan Statistical Area. His ...

. Although it was long rumored that the bridge was constructed due to Governor

Huey Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...

's political issues with the town of Melville upstream, which was originally on the route for

U.S. Highway 71 U.S. Route 71 or U.S. Highway 71 (US 71) is a major north–south United States highway that extends for over 1500 miles (2500 km) in the central United States. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstat ...

and Jefferson Highway, plans for this bridge in Krotz Springs (originally as a toll) were announced as early as 1925. This original span opened July 1, 1928, as a free bridge and carried railroad and automobile traffic, similar to the Atchafalya River Crossing in Simmesport. This dual crossing was short-lived and construction on a dedicated auto bridge began in 1931. Shortly before the dual crossing ended, the railroad commission charged tolls for automobiles. The original bridge, a truss span costing $1 million, was built in 1934 and carried two lanes of US 190 traffic. It was one of many bridges constructed in the early 1930s named the Long-Allen Bridge. In 1973, a parallel span was built to accommodate westbound traffic as traffic counts overwhelmed the original bridge. In 1985, the original span closed and was demolished, temporarily converting the 1973 span to two-lane traffic. The current eastbound span opened in 1988. In September 2015, the bridge was named for Krotz Springs Port officials Frank and Sal Diesi.

References

External links

* Road bridges in Louisiana U.S. Route 90 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Cantilever bridges in the United States Buildings and structures in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana Historic American Engineering Record in Louisiana {{Louisiana-bridge-struct-stub

See also

References

External links