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Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is OKBy Meghan Gordon
St. Tammany bureau

Despite reports by local radio and the national press, the Lake
Pontchartrain Causeway sustained no major damage from Katrina’s storm
surge, the bridge’s general manager said in the first official report of its
condition.

An extensive inspection of the 24-mile bridge between Metairie and
Mandeville found two areas of erosion that are expected to be refurbished
within days, General Manager Robert Lambert said.

With the Interstate 10 twin spans in shambles, the news of
the Causeway’s integrity provides a bright spot to the north shore, where
much of the population depends on the sole remaining link to Jefferson and
Orleans parishes.

The bridge’s northbound lanes have been used since Tuesday for
emergency vehicles shuttling rescuers and critical supplies to the south shore.
The southbound lanes remained closed while Boh Bros. contractors repair two
small segments of limestone and concrete that connect the ends of the bridge to the shoreline.

Lambert said the contractors had the materials
available immediately after inspections, and that work should be
completed at least by Tuesday.

Lambert said multiple teams of engineers, including federal and state
officials inspected the bridge from boats and from the roadway. They
found
that several of the massive concrete slabs had shifted up to an inch on
the crossbeams that connect to underwater pilings. Lambert said the spans’
slight movement pose no threat to the bridge’s structural integrity.

“They stopped and checked every inch of this bridge,” he said. “There’s
no
questions about the safety, the integrity of the Causeway.”

Divers also began inspecting the hundreds of underwater pilings
Thursday to
confirm engineers’ conclusion that no large objects slammed into them
during
the storm.

Lambert said that even though both directions of the bridge would be
passable in days, he will not open them to the public until officials
in St.
Tammany and Jefferson parishes allow evacuees back in.

“For people to come here right now just would be insane,” he said.

Lambert’s announcement will likely buoy out-of-state evacuees from the
north shore, who have been starved for information since most telephone
communication came to a halt Monday. It also contradicts
loosely-attributed
statements on local radio and national newspapers, such as The New York
Times that reported that parts of the 24-mile bridge were missing.

“Supposedly this one was the big one,” Lambert said. “This bridge took
it.”