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25-568: The Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission (GNOEC), commonly called The Causeway Commission , is an entity responsible for the maintenance, construction, and enforcement of safety laws on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway . It is headquartered in Metairie , a suburb of New Orleans . The Causeway Commission consists of five commissioners from Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes. This New Orleans , Louisiana –related article

50-416: A cost of $ 30 million (equivalent to $ 190 million in 2023 dollars). Since its construction, the causeway has operated as a toll bridge . Until 1999, tolls were collected from traffic going in each direction. To alleviate congestion on the south shore, toll collections were eliminated on the northbound span. In May 1999, the standard tolls for cars changed from $ 1.50 in each direction to a $ 3 toll collected on

75-401: A cost of $ 46 million (equivalent to $ 390 million in 2023 dollars). This included not just the bridge, but three approach roads on the north end and a long stretch of road on the south end. On June 16, 1964, six people died when barges tore a gap in the bridge and a bus plunged into the lake. A parallel two-lane span, 0.01 miles (16 m) longer than the original, opened on May 10, 1969, at

100-715: A mile at roughly 4.8 miles (7.7 km) in total length. Louisiana is also home to the Norfolk Southern Lake Pontchartrain Bridge , which at 5.8 miles (9.3 km) is one of the longest railway bridges in the United States. The southern end of the Manchac Swamp Bridge (on the western edge of Lake Pontchartrain) is the western end of the I-10 Bonnet Carré Spillway Bridge (on the southwestern edge of Lake Pontchartrain), and

125-919: A total length of 5 miles (8.0 km) or more. The others are, in order from longest to shortest, the Manchac Swamp bridge on I-55 , the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge on I-10 , the Louisiana Highway 1 Bridge , the Bonnet Carré Spillway Bridge on I-10 , the Chacahoula Swamp Bridge on U.S. 90 , the Lake Pontchartrain Twin Spans on I-10 , and the LaBranche Wetlands Bridge on I-310 . The Maestri Bridge comes close, but runs short by two-tenths of

150-626: A trading post with which the British agent in 1772 was reported to attempt to recruit a translator of Quapaw to undermine Spanish authority in Spanish Louisiana. Apparently it was a favorite object of deputy Indian agent John Thomas there. When the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern railroad was commissioned in 1852, Manchac was one of the stations originally planned, which were generally at ten-mile intervals. Willie Akers' father, William Akers,

175-793: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Lake Pontchartrain Causeway The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway holds the Guinness World Record for longest continuous span over water in the world. It previously was listed as longest bridge over water in the world ; in 2011, in response to the opening of the Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in China, Guinness World Records created two categories for bridges over water: Lake Pontchartrain Causeway then became

200-527: Is an unincorporated community in Tangipahoa Parish , Louisiana , United States. Dr. John R. Swanton , a linguist who worked with Native American languages, suggested that the name Manchac is derived from Imashaka , which is a Choctaw word meaning "the rear entrance." An early Choctaw language dictionary written by Cyrus Byington defines the word im as a preposition meaning "place" and ashaka meaning "the back side or rear" Willie Akers carried

225-552: Is the Port Manchac Distribution Center, with storage facilities and rail, truck, and water links to the east, west, and north. Manchac is home to the ruins of one of the five lighthouses set up for Lake Pontchartrain, the Pass Manchac Light . The last lighthouse to be built on the north side of the entrance to Pass Manchac (the fourth one on that site) was completed in 1857. It was automated in 1941, and

250-592: The Louisiana Legislature created what is now the Causeway Commission . The Louisiana Bridge Company was formed to construct the bridge, which in turn appointed James E. Walters Sr. to direct the project. Ernest M Loëb was assisted by his nephew, Ernest M. Loëb III, president of Ernest M. Loëb & Company to plan the construction of the bridge The original causeway was a two-lane span, measuring 23.86 miles (38.40 km) in length. It opened in 1956 at

275-617: The English again on September 7, 1779, during what became known as the Battle of Fort Bute of the American Revolutionary War . Manchac was raided in February 1778 by American forces under the command of James Willing —see related articles, Continental Marines and USS Morris . Fort Bute/Manchac Post/Mississippi River at Bayou Manchac is 45 miles from Manchac. The British used Manchac as

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300-534: The I-10 Twin Span Bridge severely damaged, the causeway was used as a major route for recovery teams staying in lands to the north to get into New Orleans. The causeway reopened first to emergency traffic and then to the general public – with tolls suspended – on September 19, 2005. Tolls were reinstated by mid-October of that year. The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is one of seven highway spans in Louisiana with

325-498: The North Shore for southbound traffic. In 2017, the toll was raised to fund safety improvements on the bridge. The toll changed from $ 3.00 with cash and $ 2.00 with a toll tag to $ 5.00 with cash and $ 3.00 with a toll tag. The opening of the causeway boosted the fortunes of small North Shore communities by reducing drive time into New Orleans by up to 50 minutes, bringing the North Shore into the New Orleans metropolitan area . Prior to

350-526: The causeway the longest. Supporters made this claim based on its own definition, i.e. the length of a bridge physically over water, and concluded that the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway spans 23.79 mi (38.28 km), and was therefore the longest. The Jiaozhou Bay Bridge spans water for only 16.1 mi (25.9 km). However, Guinness World Records , using the criteria of measurement that included aggregate structures, such as land bridges on

375-516: The causeway, residents of St. Tammany Parish used either the Maestri Bridge on U.S. Route 11 or the Rigolets Bridge on U.S. Route 90 , both near Slidell, Louisiana ; or on the west side, via U.S. Route 51 through Manchac, Louisiana . After Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, videos collected showed damage to the bridge. The storm surge was not as high under the causeway as it

400-679: The dwelling was razed in 1952; the U.S. Coast Guard decommissioned the light and abandoned the property in 1987. Hurricane Isaac destroyed the Pass Manchac Light structure in August 2012. However, the lantern room had previously been removed from the tower, for restoration purposes. Since 2008, Pass Manchac Light's lantern room has been located at the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum in Madisonville . Manchac

425-609: The ends and an under-sea tunnel , stated that the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge is 26.5 mi (42.6 km) long. Following this controversy in July 2011, Guinness World Records created two categories for bridges over water: continuous and aggregate lengths over water. Lake Pontchartrain Causeway then became the longest bridge over water (continuous) , while Jiaozhou Bay Bridge became the longest bridge over water (aggregate) . Manchac, Louisiana Manchac (also known as Akers )

450-435: The founder of Mandeville. He started a ferry service that continued to operate into the mid-1930s. In the 1920s, a proposal called for the creation of artificial islands that would then be linked by a series of bridges. The financing for this plan would come from selling home sites on the islands. The modern causeway started to take form in 1948 when Ernest M. Loëb Jr. envisioned the project. Due to his lobbying and vision,

475-414: The longest bridge over water (continuous), while the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge became the longest bridge over water (aggregate). The bridges are supported by 9,500 concrete pilings. The two bridges feature a bascule , which spans the navigation channel 8 miles (13 km) south of the north shore. The idea of a bridge spanning Lake Pontchartrain dates back to the early 19th century and Bernard de Marigny ,

500-580: The northern end of the LaBranche Wetlands Bridge is the eastern end of the I-10 Bonnet Carré Spillway Bridge; so these three bridges, by name, are in fact one contiguous bridge. The total driving distance on continuous elevated roadway is over 38 miles (61 km). The bridge was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2013. For decades Lake Pontchartrain Causeway

525-442: The same name as his father who founded the city of Ponchatoula . In the year 1871 Willie moved to Manchac with his family and built a house near a section of high ground that the locals called Jones Island . Then in the year 1857 Willie was appointed as the first postmaster of Manchac and served as the local telegraph operator. The local community became known as "Akers" during this period. Fort Bute or Manchac Post, named after

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550-615: The then British Prime Minister John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute , was established in 1763 at the junction of the Iberville River ( Bayou Manchac ) with the Mississippi River , and remained an important military and trading post in British West Florida until captured by Spanish forces under Luis de Unzaga who built a new fort, Manchak fort, in August of 1775; later, his brother-in-law Bernardo Galvez captured Manchac Fort from

575-469: Was listed by Guinness World Records as the longest bridge over water in the world . In July 2011 the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in China was named by Guinness World Records as the 'longest bridge over water'. At that time there was some controversy in the United States as supporters of the former holder of the record, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, disagreed with Guinness World Records not calling

600-527: Was near the I-10 Twin Span Bridge , and damage was mostly limited to the turnarounds . A total of 17 spans were lost on that bridge but the structural foundations remained intact. The causeways have never sustained major damage of any sort from hurricanes or other natural occurrences, a rarity among causeways. The existing fiber optic cable plant was blown out of its tray but remained intact per optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) analysis. With

625-768: Was the founder and first mayor of the town of Ponchatoula , the next station to the north. Manchac straddles the railway, which, at the start of the 21st century, is part of the Canadian National Railway system. The area was part of the Expedition to Pass Manchac and Ponchatoula during the American Civil War. Manchac is located on Lake Maurepas on the Pass Manchac waterway, which connects to Lake Pontchartrain . The Manchac Swamp Bridge on Interstate 55 has exit and entrance ramps for Manchac. Also located here

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