Barksdale

In 1955, Austin Bridge Company built the superstructure of the original Barksdale bridge, which connects Bossier City, Louisiana, to Shreveport, Louisiana, and crosses over the Red River. Fifty years later, Austin Bridge & Road was awarded a contract to rebuild the same superstructure. The company is removing more than six million pounds of structural steel by floating barges carrying two 230-ton cranes on the Red River. Each steel member will be cut into manageable lengths, picked up off the concrete pier and placed onto a barge. The steel will then be lifted onto land for temporary storage. After all of the steel has been removed, a subcontractor will float a large barge up the Red River to the project site where the steel will be loaded onto the barge for transportation to a recycling facility. The new structural steel beams will be erected from barges. Each steel member is 11 feet tall. The greatest challenges on this project are the massive lifts by cranes on barges in water 80 feet below the structure. The bridge approaches will also be removed and reconstructed using “H” piles, concrete substructure and restressed concrete beams. Construction of new connection ramps is also included in the contract.