Six bridges allow egress from the eastern edge of the city.
- I10 offers
the twin-spans,
- the other twin span,
- the old five mile bridge is US11 which
- parallels the
railroad bridge near the north shore.
- US90 crosses the Chef Menteur and
the Rigoletes passes that connect Lake Ponchartrain to the Mississippi
Sound (Gulf of Mexico) and finally
- a railroad bridge parallels the intracoastal waterway.
The I10 twin spans were heavily damaged by Katrina and were out of
service for months after the storm. Engineers concluded that the damage
came from surge and wave action which combined to lift the concrete
roadway off its supports. A new bridge is being built that will add an
extra lane in each direction and it will be built higher above the
water to be storm proof.
The Rigoletes and Chef Bridges are swivel type drawbridges and their mechanisms were damaged.