Just over a week ago, the Bossier Parish Police Jury announced the opening of the new Caplis- Sligo Bridge in south Bossier. The jury’s press release noted the bridge project was lengthy because the entire structure was removed and a new one constructed.

The jury’s bridge work announcements have multiplied over the last couple of years and it’s a good bet Bossier Parish residents aren’t aware of all that the jury is doing to ensure the safety and condition of these critical transportation system elements.

There are about 100 bridges in Bossier Parish, Parish Engineer Butch Ford said. And he said the jury is “very aware of how important the bridges are” to the parish’s transportation system. And he detailed the jury’s work to maintain the bridge system on two fronts.

Ford said most of the parish’s bridges are timber and anywhere from 30 to 40 years old. He said as the parish has grown the jury has been asked to take roads into the parish’s road system, which included building new bridges. He said while these timber bridges last a long time, it’s not forever and deterioration occurs based on water, temperature and traffic use.

Ford said the state’s Department of Transportation and Development inspects bridges every two years; their inspection reports culminate in “bridge ratings” that define the various legal load for each bridge – or whether the load is “posted” because of a deficient component in the bridge. The jury was inspecting the parish’s bridges annually, but with the arrival of the Haynesville Shale stepped up that schedule to semi-annual inspections.

Those inspections determine how the jury plans its bridge work. Ford said when he arrived in Bossier in 2003, the jury worked on smaller bridges all over the parish, and that the jury’s highway department can and does handle those smaller projects.

“But when you have a 10- span bridge over Red Chute, that’s a different matter,” Ford said. “We made the decision to replace the bigger bridges based on traffic, age and condition.”

He said the first large bridge to be addressed was the Parks Road Bridge at Cypress Black Bayou – a bridge that was originally built when the park was constructed (more than 40 years ago). Then came the Dogwood Bridge and the Caplis-Sligo span; next up is the Koran Doyline Bridge, which Ford said as one of the longest in the parish.

While the jury has budgeted funding to these projects, Ford said the jury also makes use of the federal “Off- System Bridge Program” in which DOTD participates. Revenue from this program is a small percentage of the federal gas tax that’s returned to states to help with bridge work at the local level.

Ford pointed to the four bridge projects saying funding from the “Off- System Bridge Program” accounted for about $8 million of the costs of these projects.

In addition to the bridge work, the Haynesville Shale truck traffic was reason for the jury to look at additional ways to protect the parish’s roads and bridges. Ford said truck weights, noting that a salt water truck can weigh up to 250,000 pounds – and driving that weight over a bridge designed for an 80,000 pound load really can wreck a bridge.

In 2009, the parish implemented the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit to patrol the parish and enforce vehicle weights and standards on parish roads and bridges. Ford said enforcement unit personnel are very diligent and their efforts have “saved some of our roads and bridges.”

And because of the state’s bridge rating system and the parish’s work, truckers can go to the jury’s website to map out routes that keep them within acceptable road and bridge weight limits. Truck drivers can even download a map of the parish’s bridges and weight limits, or the parish personnel will help plan routes for them.

The Bossier Parish Police Jury has gotten high marks for its long-range transportation plan and new road construction. As important, however, is ensuring the safety of the parish’s 100 bridges, and the soundness of existing roads – a critical area the jury appears to be expediently and thoughtfully addressing as well.