Audubon Takes Flight

After all, this is Louisiana’s program.

Look for the best entries in future project promotions!

For contractors, project managers and owners, safety on the job site is often the most important issue.

On the Audubon Bridge project, it has been said time and time again. Safety is the #1 issue…PERIOD.

Over the duration of the project, safety is discussed at most meetings, partnering sessions and is tracked and documented by a safety manager and his staff.

Crews are briefed each week, new employees to the job site must attend a mandatory safety orientation and all workers must adhere to the strictest safety guidelines to maintain access to the job.

Today, the Design-Build team—Audubon Bridge Constructors—has decided to go a step further, shut the entire project down and focus on safety education.

Various booths are setup at the main project office for crews to review the latest safety guidelines, equipment and practices. Safety personnel are expected to address employees and reiterate that safety on the job site is paramount.

Shutdowns for safety education are expected periodically over the duration of the project.

I applaud the Design-Build team’s efforts to ensure their job site is secure and safe for all employees and site visitors.

Nearly eight months have passed since the groundbreaking ceremony and we now enter a new year—2007.

As I’ve mentioned before, 2007 will be an exciting year for the project. In addition to the clearing and preliminary construction that has occurred already, the cable-stayed bridge will begin to take shape.

There will be much to see and it will be exciting!

Beginning this month, a newspaper series entitled “Meet the Bridge Builders” will appear in the area’s local newspapers, the Pointe Coupee Banner and the St. Francisville Democrat.

Through this series, we hope to offer you an opportunity to see who is responsible for building the Audubon Bridge. What are their names? Where are they from? What other projects have they worked on?

Many of the project’s top brass have worked on projects all over the world and are considered among the industry’s best.

If you do not live in Pointe Coupee or West Feliciana parish or receive either of the newspapers, there is no need to worry. The series will be posted to this Web site.

In the meantime, if there is any question you have on the project or something more you want to hear about, feel free to leave me a comment.

Happy New Year!

Although the Audubon Bridge project has just begun, it’s definitely a gift to many citizens and businesses in Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana parishes this holiday season.

As I’ve mentioned several times, this bridge has been long-awaited and talked about for more than 30 years. Now that construction is underway, local residents are anxiously awaiting the project’s completion and ribbon-cutting celebration.

Looking back on 2006, significant progress has been made on both the Audubon Bridge project and the overall TIMED Program. Both survived the hurricanes of 2005, proved their feasibility and now march forward toward completion.

In May, state and local officials—including the Governor—broke ground on the Audubon Bridge project as the Design-Build team, one of the most reputable bridge building teams in the world, descended on New Roads and St. Francisville to begin construction.

Since May, construction crews have progressed in their efforts to get this monumental project—North America’s longest cable-stayed bridge—underway. The roadway alignment is clear from U.S. 61 to the river in West Feliciana Parish. The east bank work trestle is under construction. Fabricating crews continue to prep construction materials. The eight-mile roadway alignment in Pointe is being cleared at this very moment. Utility crews continue to relocate electrical lines, telephone wires and other vital utilities from the project’s path.

The list goes on.

2007 will be an exciting year for the construction schedule and the project will really begin to take shape.

I encourage you to stay tuned to this Web site and to the construction Web cam for the very latest developments.

Now that construction is underway and you are able to see firsthand the bridge is being built, breathe a sigh of relief. It’s really happening!

Happy holidays.

For those of you who live in or around New Roads, you may have noticed some significant moving going on at the Julien Poydras Building this week.

Since the May groundbreaking, the Design-Build team—Audubon Bridge Constructors—had temporarily setup shop on the second floor of the Poydras Building. For the last several months, construction teams have been renovating the old garment factory on Parent Street to house project staff until the project’s completion in 2010.

Well, the renovations are complete and the staff has now transitioned to their new and larger office

In addition to housing project staff, the large building will serve as a storage facility and fabrication shop for the bridge’s construction.

It is worth noting that Audubon Bridge Constructors purchased the building. In doing so, the Design-Build team has made a direct economic investment in the New Roads community and enhanced the neighborhood by bringing the once-abandoned eye sore to life again.

Located at 902 Parent Street, the office will be the chief location for submitting resumes and applying for jobs on the project.

For a map and directions to the new office, click here.     

The public outreach office, however, will remain in Suite 227 of the Julien Poydras Building. If you have questions about the project, want to receive print material, view construction photos or visit with staff, the outreach office is open each Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

I look forward to visiting with you soon.  

With construction now underway and local residents able to see progress firsthand, discussions of the project’s economic impact and growth are beginning in earnest.

Despite the fact the project will not be complete until 2010, officials in both Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana parishes are beginning to plan and implement proactive zoning and land use measures. This is encouraging news. After all, smart growth is the best growth.

The TIMED Program’s overall mission is to foster economic development through an investment in transportation infrastructure—improved highways, new bridges and new corridors—designed to make your travel more efficient and pleasant.

Whether it’s widening US 167 through the small community of Dubach north of Ruston or building the new cable-stayed Audubon Bridge, TIMED Program projects were strategically chosen to grow Louisiana businesses, communities and economic potential.

Since the Audubon Bridge project began in May, I’ve been in contact with local economic development organizations near the bridge project. While it’s impossible to predict the precise economic impact the project will have on the area, these organizations are working to initiate new measuring tools that will chart business and residential growth.

I intend to follow these organizations and their action plans as they materialize. If you live in West Feliciana, Pointe Coupee or the surrounding area, I urge you to get involved in your local civic and business associations.

The Audubon Bridge project is a huge investment and will certainly have profound positive impacts on the local and state economies.

It’s amazing how the Internet has transformed our lives…at home and in the office.

Like my parents’ and grandparents’ generations, I remember what life was like without the Internet. My younger sister, however, has never been without the power and resources of the World Wide Web and my two-year-old nephew has already begun watching DVDs and will soon begin playing interactive learning tools on the computer.

Computers, the Internet, mobile phones, the infamous BlackBerry and other electronic devices have really changed the way many of us do business. On the Audubon Bridge project, they have changed—for the better, I hope—the way I communicate with you on project updates.

One of the many great qualities of the Internet is that it’s open 24/7…and there for you when you are ready, no matter the time. More importantly, it’s local to anyone in any country on any continent anywhere in the world with an Internet connection!

With that in mind, we’ve redesigned our Web sites and added features to enhance your knowledge of the project.

In addition to this blog, you can also find an improved photo gallery now categorized by what’s happening on the project and when. And if you haven’t found the Web cam yet, click here to view the construction site in near real time. The camera, focused on the Mississippi River, will offer you breathtaking snapshots of the bridge’s construction and progress. Like all features of the Web site, the Web cam can be viewed 24/7 from the comfort of your home or office.

Whether you are near the construction site in St. Francisville or New Roads or across the globe in Shanghai, I hope this new and redesigned Web site offers you the tools and resources you need to be “in the loop” when it comes to the Audubon Bridge project.

Check out the Web site today. I look forward to your feedback.