This report is mainly from a SunHerald article and details out the road/bridge situation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the first week after Hurricane Katrina hit.  This was posted on September 5, 2005.

Something road-related that concerns Hurricane Katrina. The following was gleaned from an article in the SunHerald:

"The cost of repairing Coast roads and bridges damaged by Hurricane Katrina could reach $1.1 billion and may climb even higher if more damage is discovered, Southern District Transportation Commissioner Wayne Brown said Thursday.

The Biloxi-Ocean Springs and Bay St. Louis bridges will be completely replaced, rather than simply repaired, and much of U.S. 90 in Harrison County will be replaced, he said. The bridges would be finished in a year, and U.S. 90 in about six months.

A 300-foot section of the eastbound span of Interstate 10 across the Pascagoula River in Jackson County will be replaced, he said. Traffic on the westbound span will be changed to two-way traffic by Saturday or Sunday.

Here is a roundup of the transportation problems caused by Katrina:

Interstate 10: A barge hit a 300-foot section of the southbound span across the Pascagoula River during Katrina, knocking the roadway three feet out of alignment and displacing some pilings. Beginning Saturday or Sunday, the westbound lane will be converted to two-way traffic.  Until then, eastbound traffic is being detoured along U.S. 90 through Gautier and Pascagoula. Cost: $2 million to $3 million. Estimated time to finish: Three or four weeks.

Ocean Springs-Biloxi bridge: Large sections of the roadway were washed away, and the pilings were undermined, so the bridge will be completely replaced with a six-lane, high-rise bridge. Unlike the old bridge, each direction of the new bridge will have a shoulder, or emergency lane, where cars can stop if they break down. It will also be a high-rise bridge, with no drawbridge. Cost: $150 million. Estimated time to finish: One year.

U.S. 90: From Pass Christian to U.S. 49 in Gulfport, about 75 percent of the road can be repaired with relatively minor work, he said, although that figure could change if engineers find more damage than is apparent. About 25 percent will have to be completely replaced. From U.S. 49 through Biloxi, about 75 percent will have to be replaced, and about 25 percent repaired. Cost: $100 million. Estimated time to finish: Six months.

Bay St. Louis bridge: The bridge will be completely replaced with a four-lane, high rise bridge. Cost: $150 million. Estimated time to finish: One year.

Brown said that state transportation officials would like to redesign the highway - or even move it further away from the waterfront, but he said that such notions were not practical because the communities along the Coast need the road finished as soon as possible. "It would require right of way, and that would take another year, he said. "We cannot wait."

I-10 westbound: The interstate is open to Interstate 59 in Louisiana, he said.

Brown said the cost of the road projects could rise dramatically because oil is key component of road-building materials, and oil prices continue to rise. "Roads are primarily built out of an oil well," he said. "The disruption of the Louisiana oil fields does not bode well for road-building costs," he said.

The construction will be funded by the Federal Emergency Management, he said.

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So it looks like my hopes for the two US 90 bridges will be fulfilled.  Both will be high-rise bridges (negating the need for a draw span)....both will have shoulders added...and the Biloxi-Ocean Springs bridge will be made 6 lanes.

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