Israel LaFleur Bridge

The Israel LaFleur Bridge is a concrete pillar vehicular bridge located in the city of Lake Charles, Louisiana. The bridge was built in 1962 as part of Interstate 210 (Lake Charles Loop; a highway expansion that travels over the Calcasieu River, south of Lake Charles, and back up to Interstate 10). It is named after Israel LaFleur, who spearheaded the project to build it.^[1]

Israel LaFleur Bridge
Spanning Calcasieu Ship Channel and Prien Lake
Coordinates	30°12′06″N 93°16′49″W
Carries	4 lanes of I-210
Crosses	Calcasieu Ship Channel
Locale	Lake Charles, Louisiana
Official name	Israel LaFleur Bridge
Other name(s)	I-210 Bridge
Maintained by	LDOT
Characteristics
Design	Box girder
Total length	8,500.4 feet (2,590.9 m)
Width	56.4 feet (17.2 m)
Longest span	450.2 feet (137.2 m)
Clearance below	140 feet (43 m)
History
Opened	1962
Statistics
Toll	Free both ways
Location

At over 140 feet (43 m) high, it is one of the tallest structures in southwest Louisiana.

The bridge survived the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Rita. The bridge's structural rating is 96%, even after surviving two major hurricanes and being sixty years old.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• United States portal
• Transport portal
• Engineering portal