When the section of I-10 that spans the Jourdan River was originally constructed in 1969, L&A Contracting Co. was the general contractor.

The firm is back on the job again.

Hattiesburg, Miss.-based L& A Contracting Co. was awarded a $48 million project to widen the Jourdan River section of interstate in March 2001, and is helping upgrade the interstate to meet the demands of the 21st century.

The project is part of a massive task Mississippi began in 1996 to widen I-10 to six lanes across the state.

Although project manager Lynn Cox was probably a toddler when the original structure was built, he can't help but feel a homecoming of sorts for his company and marvel at the enormity of such a project that spans generations and affects so many lives. "A lot of people have traveled across that bridge over the years," Cox said as he nodded toward the structure.

In his years as a project manager with L&A, Cox has traveled throughout Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Georgia, building bridges that will outlast generations. "Everywhere I drive, I drive over a bridge I built or I helped to build. My wife gets tired of hearing it," he said, chuckling.

In one of the top five construction projects in the state, L & A is replacing the two separate, two-lane bridges over the Jourdan River with one, six-lane structure. By the summer of 2004, the completed project will boast a new 3,500-ft.-long section of interstate that is 125 ft. wide and built with a combination of 27,000 cu. yds. of super-plasticized 4,000 psi concrete, 18 million pounds of steel girders, five pile footings and 17 pile bents (four of these with drill shafts).

The new bridge will feature longer spans over the river, a perk for the abundant recreational craft that travel the river. "The technology of concrete has gotten better and we're using steel spans," Cox said. "It also has better support with foundations to either side instead of directly in the center."

Neil Schaefer of Jackson, Miss., is the design engineering firm for the project.
During the job's first phase, L & A built two new lanes between the old spans. Setting the girders was a major challenge, with limited access and only a 90-ft. space.
"The swinging radius of a crane is more than 90 ft.," Cox said.

L&A had 11 cranes on the job and steel beams coming in from Florida-based fabricators PDM Bridge. For the center sections, two beams - measuring 12 ft. tall, 327 ft. long and weighing 120 tons - were bolted together and lifted as one.

"We used three cranes (two 225-ton cranes and one 160-ton crane) and a lot of people on a lot of barges," Cox said, laughing.

"It was something to see those huge cranes lift in unison," he added. "We would bring the beams on barges separately, and, in some areas, we had to unload the crane, take the boom out, get out on the barge, on the water and then put it all back together."
L&A is currently about 65 percent complete in the second phase of the job, which involves the demolition of the eastbound section of the old bridge and re-construction of a new eastbound three lanes. That is scheduled for completion this December, when the final phase - tearing down the westbound span and re-constructing the final portion - will begin.

L&A hauled several barges carrying 11,000 cu. yds. of the demolished concrete and placed it about two mi. south of Bay St. Louis in the Gulf to create a fishing reef. The effort was part of a program by Mississippi Gulf Fishing Banks Inc., a non-profit organization that utilizes monies from the State Tidelands Trust Fund (monies casinos pay to the state for mooring boats), to build such reefs to enhance local fishing and restore coastal areas.

"We donated the actual concrete and got some money from Gulf Fishing Banks to haul it out there because it costs a lot more to move it by water than truck," Cox said. "We enjoy the fact that it got used for something. To us it felt better than putting it in the landfill."

Chris Lagarde, special assistant for fisheries and natural resources for Congressman Gene Taylor, said the effort was a result of three years of obtaining the necessary permits and finding an interested contractor. "L&A did a great service to the state of Mississippi," Lagarde added. "We expect by June and July this summer, every night we'll see two or three boats tied up with people fishing, kids swimming.
Taylor's office is already working on obtaining the necessary permits to use the concrete from L & A's third phase (demo of westbound lanes) to construct a breakwater near Bayou Caddy. "We know the other bridge is coming down, and, at the same time, we're working to restore reefs and assist in the restoration of wetlands," Lagarde said.

The statewide expansion of I-10 began with the widening of a 12-mi. section from Wolf River through the Biloxi River bridge, and projects continue as monies become available, said Melinda McGrath, assistant district construction engineer for MDOT. "That job was completed by Boh Bros. Construction Co. in 2000 and we let the next project, currently under contract with Huey Stockstill, in early 2000," McGrath added.

The $35 million Stockstill contract includes widening and overlaying the roadway and bridges in Biloxi from the Biloxi River Bridge to the Harrison/Jackson county line and should be complete in September.

"Huey's job has a lot of paving that has to be performed, so he obviously has to take the interstate down to a single lane," McGrath said. "We've required them to pave that from 8 p.m. .to 6 a.m."

The bridgework was subcontracted to Johnson Bros. "The job included five separate bridges and we are now in the stage of inspections and will be finish everything by the end of June," said Zvonko Juric, project manager for Johnson Bros.

L&A's Jourdan River bridge job is funded 85 percent by federal bridge replacement funds and the remaining amount by the state, McGrath said. The Huey Stockstill project is funded 100 percent by gaming funds.

"A certain percentage of each dollar the casinos make goes to the state, and, of that, a certain percentage goes to the DOT and must be utilized in the county directly affected by the casinos," McGrath added. "The gaming industry brought in a lot more industry, which brought in more people, and the capacity of our interstate was not large enough."