[Ted Davisson]

Greetings From New Orleans ,
I am not so sure if anyone would be interested in this but the powers that be in the state , have finally started the long awaited process of widening the Huey P. Long Bridge . Unfortunately when I say widening the bridge , I am not refering to the horizontal distance between the bridge piers themselves , but the actual highway spans that cross the river . If you've never crossed the river on the Huey P , well its not for the weak of heart . First of all , the bridge I believe was completed in or around 1935 , and the style of automobile of that day was just simply not as wide as what is on the road today . Consequently , the bridge and the traffi lanes are quite narrow , without shoulders and with a train track inbetween the opposing lanes . Therefore it becomes quite an adventure when one crosses the bridge , in heavy rush hour traffic , with a screaming freight train going down the middle of the bridge and shakeing the the entire structure and You , while peering over the guard rails and viewing the Mississippi River , about one hundred and fifty feet below , in low river . So , going to work , and crossing the Huey P , is just not an adventure but actually one of lifes ordeals that will take your breath away . So , the first phase of this projecct is to widen the piers themselves so that at a latter date , the traffic lanes can then also be widened . I have a number of pictures of the progress being made and it really is an engineering achievement and if anyone is interested in seeing more pictures of this endeavor , please let me know and I will e-mail them to you .
Smoothe Sailing !
Ted Davisson