The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has reopened the Beaver Creek Bridge on La. 10 in St. Helena Parish that “had to be completely rebuilt following irreparable damage during the catastrophic August 2016 floods.”

The $2.1 million project to rebuild the structure, also known as the Greensburg Bridge, began in March 2017. Before that a contractor had to demolish the old bridge.

“This new bridge is great news for those who travel La. 10 and is a continued sign of our state’s recovery from the August 2016 flood that devastated so much of this area,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards. “I appreciate the efforts of everyone involved to reach this point and I remain committed to maximizing every bit of recovery and infrastructure funding to move Louisiana in the right direction.”

The DOTD said that the most significant damage from the flooding to the Beaver Creek Bridge “was to the pile embedment, which serves to transfer loads to the subsurface of the bridge, making the main corridor in St. Helena Parish impassable.”

As a result, authorities deemed the bridge unsafe to drive on, and said it risked failure under load or with hydraulic pressure such as rain events.

The new bridge is wider and has a projected life span of more than 40 years, the announcement said.

 “I appreciate the public’s patience as we built this new structure,” said DOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson. “There were talks early in the process of building a temporary bridge. However, the decision to build a new bridge that doesn’t have weight restrictions will be beneficial in the long run.”