The Seabrook Railroad Bridge is a
bascule bridge
A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...
in
running adjacent to the
Seabrook Bridge. It is often confused with this vehicular bridge to the north, officially called the Senator Ted Hickey Bridge; therefore, it is commonly called the Seabrook Railroad Bridge, that now carries only trains across the canal. The bridge has a horizontal clearance of with unlimited vertical clearance when fully retracted.
Location
The
Norfolk Southern Railway's Seabrook Railroad Bridge is located north of New Orleans on
Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from wes ...
, on the lake (north) side of the Seabrook Sector Gate Complex, and the terminus of a part of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway called the Inner Harbor-Navigational Canal (IH-NC), locally referred to as the
Industrial Canal
The Industrial Canal is a 5.5 mile (9 km) waterway in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The waterway's proper name, as used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and on NOAA nautical charts, is Inner Harbor Navigation Canal ( IHNC). ...
, that connects Lake Pontchartrain to the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
.
History
The Seabrook Railway Bridge is one of four bridges built by the Port of New Orleans in the 1920s in order to provide railroad access across the IH-NC. Besides Seabrook Railroad Bridge, two of the sister bridges, the
St. Claude Avenue Bridge and
Almonaster Avenue Bridge, remain in service today. The original
Florida Avenue Bridge was removed in 2000 and replaced with the current modern, steel structure which was completed in May 2005.
The Seabrook Railroad Bridge was used for rail traffic and vehicular traffic until the opening of the higher, four lane
Seabrook Bridge, circa 1967, when it was restricted to rail traffic only.
Hurricane plans
In times of high winds above 40 mph, or the IH-NC reaches +5.0 feet NVGD, the bridges, shall be lowered or remained lowered, until such time as it is cleared to be reopened. In the event of a tropical storm or hurricane the St. Claude Avenue bridge, no longer used for rail, cannot be closed to vehicle or pedestrian traffic. The Florida Avenue Bridge shall be raised to 41 feet and all traffic closed.
Since rail traffic is limited, the rail bridges are normally in a raised position to facilitate waterway traffic. In the event the rail bridge is lowered water traffic must contact the authorities on radio frequency VHF 13 for information.
Bridge and lock waterway information
Retrieved 2013-04-20
References
{{coord, 30.03136, -90.0344, type:landmark_region:US-LA, display=title
Bridges in New Orleans
Bascule bridges in the United States
Railroad bridges in Louisiana
Steel bridges in the United States
1920s establishments in Louisiana