Huey Long Bridge Widening

The Huey Long Bridge Widening is one of the largest bridge widening projects in the world. It included the widening of one of the longest highway & railroad bridges in the US and adding trusses on each side and replaced the existing traffic lanes with 3 widened lanes and shoulders.

DBM Vircon’s Scope of Work:

• 3D BrIM modeling and detailing of the new trusses, portal frames, sway frames, floor beams, bracing and all tie-in steel to the existing structure
• The main span is 2,375 feet long in 4 spans. The widening scope included over 17,000 tons of structural steel, and extensive retrofitting of the existing trusses to accept connections to the new trusses
• 3D BrIM modeling and detailing services for the widening of the bridge
• The roadway was widened from 2 narrow lanes to 3 full lanes in each direction with the addition of new trusses on each side of the bridge; there are also 2 existing railroad tracks at the center of the bridge

Project Stats:

• Approx. 17,500 tons of structural steel and 750,000 new bolts
• Project expanded the structure from two 9-foot lanes to three 11-foot lanes with a 2-foot inside shoulder and an 8-foot outside shoulder
• One of the largest bridge widening projects in the world
• Large barges transported the pre-assembled span sections under the bridge and then lifted into position using strand jacks

Huey Long Bridge Widening Highlights & Challenges:

• Extensive review of the existing 1930’s shop detail drawings was done to match existing shapes and holes for new steel tie-in
• Techniques were developed to eliminate the need for false work in the middle of the river and to complete the two central spans with minimal impact to maritime traffic. This innovative erection method was developed and incorporated into the model and detail drawings as the erection design was completed. Ongoing co-ordination with the team was required for the addition of erection aids by the erection engineer. This included additional steel for the strand jacks used to lift the 530-foot trusses.
• One of the first major bridge projects in North America to be modeled using Tekla 3D software

Project Award:

• 2014 NSBA (National Steel Bridge Alliance) award for best reconstructed bridge categories