Repairs to Mississippi River bridge lights under way

The Mississippi River bridge appeared a lot brighter Monday night after crews with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development repaired 40 lights during the day. The Interstate 10 bridge had been illuminated at only 40% of its full lighting capacity before the repairs. The DOTD is unsure of how long 69 of the bridge’s 114 decorative lights were in the dark. “Electricians suspect a lightning strike, or high winds from Hurricane Isaac, triggered the damage,” says DOTD spokesman Dustin Annison. The bridge now has 85 lights working. There is no timetable, however, to get the remainder of the broken lights replaced. Annison says the DOTD will likely need to place equipment on the bridge to complete the work, which could possibly include lane closures. They were still evaluating the logistics of that today, he says. The lighting project originally cost $374,200 to install in December 2003, Annison says. —Adam Pearson