Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge
St. Tammany Parish, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
Marker Inscription
Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge. The original 23.86 mile-long structure, which now carries the Southbound traffic, was designed by the firm of Palmer & Baker. When opened in 1956, the structure was the longest bridge in the world by more than 15 miles. In building the bridge, which took just fourteen months, assembly-line, mass-production methods were utilized for the first time in the construction of a bridge. It was designed to employ hundreds of identical, hollow concrete pilings, concrete caps, and pre-stressed deck sections manufactured at an on-shore facility and barged into place. Engineering News-Record acclaimed the project to be "a bold venture requiring unusual foresight, ingenuity and resourcefulness." Opened: August 30, 1956.
Erected by American Society of Civil Engineers
The Story
The original 1956 span, designed by Palmer & Baker and now carrying southbound traffic, opened as the longest bridge in the world by more than 15 miles. Built in just fourteen months, it used assembly-line, mass-production methods for the first time in bridge construction — identical hollow pilings, caps, and pre-stressed deck sections cast onshore and barged into place. Engineering News-Record hailed the project as a bold venture of unusual foresight and resourcefulness.
Why it matters
It captures a moment when American builders applied factory techniques to civil engineering, setting a template for large prefabricated structures.
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