Thursday, May 30, 2024

Black Bayou Bridge and Calcasieu Lock near Lake Charles, LA

Bridge: (Satellite, this is not the one in the photo that was jumped.)
Lock: (Satellite)

I could not find this bridge.
safe_image (source) for 2 Men Dead After Trying To Jump Over Drawbridge With Car: Police
"Black Bayou Bridge in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, was closed off to traffic to let a boat sail by, but the passenger left the car and “pushed the gate arm up,” according to a witness. The other person allegedly drove the vehicle under the gate, picked up the passenger and went toward the ramp at the end of the bridge. “After stopping briefly, the driver placed the vehicle in reverse then accelerated forward in an attempt to ‘jump’ the ramp of the bridge,” the statement said. “The vehicle became airborne, landed in the waterway, and sank to the bottom.”"

But the one I did find is noteworthy because it is a swinging pontoon bridge. A street view shows that it has a floating dock at both sides of the navigation channel. So the span must be a floating pontoon bridge.
Street View, Apr 2014

Given that the control tower is north of the floating span, this photo shows that the span swings into the northeast quadrant.
Capt. Hayes, Jan 2018

This satellite image shows the notch into which the span swings and the control arm that swings the span.
Satellite

Charles Reeser, May 2018

Street View, Apr 2014

I wonder how often the lock is used because this satellite image shows that the sector gates are open on both ends of the lock.
Satellite

I noticed the lock wasn't being used when I tried to figure out which direction the Intracoastal Waterway flows here to see if I should label the Grand Lake Swing Bridge as upstream or downstream from the Black Bayou Bridge. Even though the sector gates are open, we can tell that this other pontoon bridge is downstream from the Black Bayou Bridge.


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