Horace Wilkinson Bridge

Horace Wilkinson Bridge
Horace Wilkinson Bridge
	Horace Wilkinson Bridge from the southeast
Coordinates	30°26′22″N 91°11′47″W / 30.4395°N 91.1965°W
Carries	6 lanes of I-10
Crosses	Mississippi River
Locale	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Other name(s)	I-10 Bridge, "New" Bridge
Maintained by	LaDOTD
ID number	611704500900001
Characteristics
Design	Cantilever bridge
Total length	4,550 feet (1,387 m) (superstructure); 14,150 feet (4,313 m) (overall)
Width	80 feet (24 m)
Longest span	1,235 feet (376 m)
Clearance below	175 feet (53 m)
History
Opened	April 10, 1968
Statistics
Daily traffic	107,000 (2005)
Location

The Horace Wilkinson Bridge is a cantilever bridge carrying Interstate 10 across the Mississippi River from Port Allen in West Baton Rouge Parish to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This is the only point where Interstate 10 crosses the Mississippi River in Louisiana. Around the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Area, the bridge is more commonly known as the "New Bridge" because it is the younger of the two bridges that cross the river at Baton Rouge. The structure begins at the Louisiana Highway 1 exit south of Port Allen. After the interstate crosses the superstructure, it remains an elevated viaduct up to the Dalrymple Drive exit to Louisiana State University. Locally it is notorious for daily traffic snags due to the high volume of vehicles using the bridge and the style of entrances from Highway 1 on the west bank, and from St. Ferdinand Street in downtown on the east bank. It is the highest bridge on the Mississippi River.