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64-642: The Crescent City Connection ( CCC ), formerly the Greater New Orleans (GNO) Bridge , is a pair of cantilever bridges that carry U.S. Highway 90 Business (US 90 Bus.) over the Mississippi River in New Orleans , Louisiana , United States . They are tied as the fifth-longest cantilever bridges in the world. Each span carries four general-use automobile lanes; additionally the westbound span has two reversible HOV lanes across

128-423: A balanced cantilever ; when they attach to a solid foundation, the counterbalancing arms are called anchor arms . Thus, in a bridge built on two foundation piers, there are four cantilever arms: two which span the obstacle, and two anchor arms that extend away from the obstacle. Because of the need for more strength at the balanced cantilever's supports, the bridge superstructure often takes the form of towers above

192-505: A bridge that could handle differential settlement of the foundations. Engineers could more easily calculate the forces and stresses with a hinge in the girder. Heinrich Gerber was one of the engineers to obtain a patent for a hinged girder (1866) and is recognized as the first to build one. The Hassfurt Bridge over the Main river in Germany with a central span of 124 feet (38 metres)

256-402: A bridge that was continuous across multiple supports would distribute the loads among them. This would result in lower stresses in the girder or truss and meant that longer spans could be built. Several 19th-century engineers patented continuous bridges with hinge points mid-span. The use of a hinge in the multi-span system presented the advantages of a statically determinate system and of

320-609: A detailed financial study on the CCC tolls which showed that the majority of the toll money collected in tolls does not benefit those who pay the tolls. The full BGR report is available as well. On March 5, 2013, toll collection was nullified on the Crescent City Connection due to 19th Judicial District Judge William Morvant's decision to nullify the November 2012 toll vote. A new referendum held on May 4, 2013, defeated

384-593: A section of a continuous Highway 403, the new link was designated as a western extension of the tolled Highway 407, with the Mississauga section of Highway 403 planned to be renumbered as Highway 410. The renumbering to 410 never came to pass, and consequently Highway 403 was signed concurrently along the Queen Elizabeth Way in 2002, remedying the discontinuity. Nonetheless, many surface street signs referring to that section of freeway with

448-433: A single mountain crossing or over a bridge, or through a major city, it is often economically and practically advantageous for them all to be accommodated on a single physical roadway. In some jurisdictions, however, concurrent numbering is avoided by posting only one route number on highway signs; other route numbers disappear at the start of the concurrency and reappear when it ends. However, any route that becomes unsigned in

512-423: A single numbered route across each province (an exception being the switching of the designation between Nova Scotia Highways 104 and 105 ), or has branches that are signed exclusively as TCH routes. In Ontario and Quebec, The TCH follows a series of provincial highways, and also has branches that follow sections of others that have concurrencies with it, signed with TCH shields alongside the provincial number. In

576-475: A six-week suspension, as the revenue was needed to maintain operations. Long lines at the toll booth lanes during non-rush times became common, due to a shortage of toll collectors and electronic toll tags, combined with heavy usage of the bridge due to the many New Orleanians staying with friends and relatives on the Westbank while they worked on gutting and repairing their flooded Eastbank homes. In addition to

640-719: A total 256 lights. As Hurricane Katrina approached the city in August 2005, the CCCD halted toll collections on August 26 to aid in speed of evacuation of the Metro area. Two overhead signs were blown down on the older span, but no other damage occurred to either bridge. After the storm hit on August 29, 2005, much of the east bank of New Orleans flooded severely (see Effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans ). With all other major and minor highways out of town flooded in both directions,

704-554: A variety of concurrences which can occur. An example of this is the concurrency of Interstate 70 (I-70) and I-76 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in western Pennsylvania . I-70 merges with the Pennsylvania Turnpike so the route number can ultimately continue east into Maryland; instead of having a second physical highway built to carry the route, it is combined with the Pennsylvania Turnpike and

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768-414: Is available to support the tension in the upper chord of the span during construction, usually limiting this method to the spanning of narrow canyons. World's longest cantilever bridges (by longest span): Wrong-way concurrency A concurrency in a road network is an instance of one physical roadway bearing two or more different route numbers . When two roadways share the same right-of-way , it

832-528: Is in downtown Athens, Georgia , between exits 4 and 8 of SR 10 Loop , where the highway is concurrent with US 29 , US 78 , US 129 , US 441 , SR 8 , SR 15 , and SR 422. In the United States, concurrencies are simply marked by placing signs for both routes on the same or adjacent posts. The federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices prescribes that when mounting these adjacent signs together that

896-554: Is officially designated " Daniel Interchange ", providing half of the possible interchange directions. It is a one-mile (1.6 km) segment consisting of eight lanes providing high-speed access between the two highways. Access from Highway 1 west to Highway 6 south and Highway 6 north to Highway 1 east is provided via Route 431 , while access between Highway 1 east to Highway 6 north and Highway 6 south to Highway 1 west are provided at Ben Shemen Interchange. The other movements are provided through

960-600: Is signed) and Interstate 81 (which runs primarily northeast–southwest, but is also signed north–south). A vehicle might simultaneously be on I-77 northbound and I-81 southbound, while actually traveling due westbound. An unusual example of a three-directional concurrency occurs southeast of Rhinelander, Wisconsin , where US 8 westbound (the actual compass direction) converges with southbound Wisconsin Highway 17 and northbound Wisconsin Highway 47 , and vice-versa. Often when two routes with exit numbers overlap, one of

1024-401: Is sometimes called a common section or commons . Other terminology for a concurrency includes overlap , coincidence , duplex (two concurrent routes), triplex (three concurrent routes), multiplex (any number of concurrent routes), dual routing or triple routing . Concurrent numbering can become very common in jurisdictions that allow it. Where multiple routes must pass between

1088-589: Is the centerpiece of the Crescent Connection Road Race (CCRR) or Bridge Race as it is locally known, an annual event held on the first Saturday in September following Labor Day. The bridge remains open to vehicular traffic during the race, which only uses the two HOV lanes. The CCRR was originally started as a fundraiser for the bridge's decorative lights. These lights line the top profile lines of both bridges; 64 lights along each string for

1152-710: Is the second bridge to span the Mississippi south of Baton Rouge , the first being the Huey P. Long Bridge , a few miles upriver from the city, and is the first bridge across the river in Orleans Parish, coterminous with the city of New Orleans. The Mississippi River Bridge Authority, known since 1989 as the Crescent City Connection Division (CCCD), began construction of the first span in November 1954, which opened on April 15, 1958, as

1216-589: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials for permission to truncate US 27 at Fort Wayne, Indiana . In 2002, Michigan removed the US ;27 designation from I-69 and extended the US ;127 designation from Lansing to Grayling. MDOT's stated reason for the modification was to "reduce confusion along the US 27/US 127 corridor". After US 27's signage

1280-492: The Denzel Washington film Déjà Vu . The HOV lanes were used to film a scene in 21 Jump Street when a truck loaded with chickens explodes. The spans also served as the anchor for the background in most of the outdoor scenes in the film A Love Song for Bobby Long . The spans have been used as a filming location for episodes of NCIS: New Orleans . The spans appeared on the finale of The Amazing Race 32 as

1344-627: The LA-1 Tollway , and all future Louisiana toll roads. There are currently over 100,000 tags in operation. To encourage use of the toll tags, the Crescent City Connection offered several benefits to commuters until 2013, including: As an iconic part of the city's skyline, the spans have been a favorite of movie production crews. The HOV lanes are frequently used for filming , as they are not heavily used and are separated from normal traffic by barrier walls. Both spans were briefly closed on April 9, 2006, to allow filming with stunts and pyrotechnics for

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1408-465: The Navajo Bridge ) are built using pure cantilever spans from each side, with neither falsework below nor temporary supporting towers and cables above. These are then joined with a pin, usually after forcing the union point apart, and when jacks are removed and the bridge decking is added the bridge becomes a truss arch bridge . Such unsupported construction is only possible where appropriate rock

1472-593: The Oklahoma – Arkansas state line. At the northern end of this border Oklahoma State Highway 20 runs concurrently with Arkansas Highway 43 and the two highways run north–south along the boundary. Concurrencies are also found in Canada. British Columbia Highway 5 continues east for 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) concurrently with Highway 1 and Highway 97 , through Kamloops . This stretch of road, which carries Highway 97 south and Highway 5 north on

1536-509: The concurrency of I-75 and I-85 in Atlanta, Georgia —where I-75 is dominant—the exit numbers range from 242 to 251, while I-85's highest independent mile marker in Georgia is 179. Some brief concurrencies in the past have been eliminated by reassigning the designations along the roadways. This can involve scaling back the terminus of one designation to the end of a concurrent section. At

1600-504: The "Pelican Bridge", due to blue signs at either end that feature a pelican from the state flag .) Beginning in 1989, it was maintained and policed as a toll bridge by the CCCD, a special division of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, although a 2013 vote removed the tolls, and the crossing is now overseen by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety. This separate state police agency used elsewhere in

1664-544: The CCC was the only open highway into or out of the east bank of Orleans Parish . (One other route, Leake Avenue/Old River Road, a small road along the Mississippi River levee, was initially blocked by debris but was cleared by local volunteer work). Two days after the storm passed, the Gretna police set up a controversial roadblock on the bridge, refusing passage to evacuees on foot. In the initial weeks following

1728-577: The CCC's designation as Business US 90, the bridge, along with its approach roads, the Pontchartrain Expressway and Westbank Expressway were proposed to also serve as Interstate 910 . This proposed designation was federal only and no signs identify the bridge as I-910. This is a temporary designation until Interstate 49 is completed between New Orleans and Lafayette , at which time the bridge will be signed as I-49. This proposed designation currently does not have funding to support all

1792-586: The Czech Republic, the European route numbers are only additional, and they are always concurrent with the state route numbering, usually highways or first-class roads. In the state numbering system, concurrences exist only in first-class and second-class roads; third class roads do not have them. The local term for such concurrences is peáž (from the French word péage ). In the road register, one of

1856-710: The Greater New Orleans Bridge. At its opening, the bridge was the longest cantilever bridge in the world, although in terms of main span length it was third, after the Forth Bridge and the Quebec Bridge . It carried two lanes of traffic in each direction and spurred growth in the suburban area known as the West Bank (named for its location on the western bank of the river although it is geographically southeast of New Orleans). Construction of

1920-613: The I-76 designation. The longest Interstate Highway concurrency is I-80 and I-90 for 278 miles (447 km) across Indiana and Ohio . There are at least two examples of eight-way concurrencies. The first example is in Indianapolis, between exits 46 and 47 of the 53-mile (85 km) I-465 beltway , where the highway is concurrent with I-69 , U.S. Highway 31 (US 31), US 36 , US 40 , US 52 , US 421 , and State Road 67 . The second example

1984-548: The Louisiana Office of Legislative Auditor regarding bridge employees pocketing toll revenue for their own use and supervisors falsifying reports to hide the theft. There were citizen action groups who were actively opposing the tolls and their potential renewal in 2012. The Times-Picayune newspaper wrote an editorial recommending that the tolls not be renewed at the end of 2012. The Bureau of Governmental Research, an independent watchdog group in New Orleans, released

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2048-707: The QEW/Highway ;403 concurrency still only use the highway's original designation of QEW, although the MTO has updated route markers on the QEW to reflect the concurrency. At the national level, the Trans-Canada Highway , which does not bear a uniform number in the eastern provinces, follows various provincial highways. In the Atlantic Provinces the main designated TCH route either follows

2112-903: The UK, the existence of these concurrencies is purely theoretical. In Sweden and Denmark, the most important highways use only the European route numbers that have cardinal directions. In Sweden the European route E6 and E20 run concurrently for 280 kilometres (170 mi). In Denmark the E47 and E55 run concurrently for 157 kilometres (98 mi). There are more shorter concurrencies. There are two stretches in Sweden and Denmark where three European routes run concurrently; these are E6, E20 and E22 in Sweden, and E20, E47, and E55 in Denmark. Along all these concurrencies, all route numbers are posted with signs. In

2176-635: The United Kingdom, routes do not run concurrently with others. Where this would normally occur, the roadway takes the number of only one of the routes (usually, but not always, the most important route), while the other routes are considered to have a gap and are signed in brackets (the equivalent of "to" signs in North America). An example is the meeting of the M60 and the M62 northwest of Manchester :

2240-998: The Unity Bridge, the Mississippi River Twins, The Friendship Connection, The Pelican Pride, the Riverview Bridge, the Creole Crossing, the Jazz Gate Bridge, the Greater New Orleans Twin Bridges, and the Crescent Bend Bridge. Following this contest, the Louisiana Legislature officially designated the bridges as the Crescent City Connection. (The bridge is commonly known among local Vietnamese Americans as Cầu Con Cò ,

2304-415: The action of the outer foundations. Cantilever Bridge.—A structure at least one portion of which acts as an anchorage for sustaining another portion which extends beyond the supporting pier. A simple cantilever span is formed by two cantilever arms extending from opposite sides of an obstacle to be crossed, meeting at the center. In a common variant, the suspended span , the cantilever arms do not meet in

2368-542: The asphalt-on-steel deck with concrete. All the exits and entrances to the bridge were replaced as well. After the completion of the second span, a public contest was held in 1989 to rename the bridges, which was won by Jennifer Grodsky, of St. Clement of Rome School in Metairie , Louisiana , on March 17. The name was selected over the second-place finisher, the Greater New Orleans Superspan, as

2432-423: The center; instead, they support a central truss bridge which rests on the ends of the cantilever arms. The suspended span may be built off-site and lifted into place, or constructed in place using special travelling supports. A common way to construct steel truss and prestressed concrete cantilever spans is to counterbalance each cantilever arm with another cantilever arm projecting the opposite direction, forming

2496-455: The concurrency. Since highways in the United States and Canada are usually signed with assigned cardinal directions based on their primary orientation, it is possible for a stretch of roadway shared between two highways to be signed with conflicting, even opposite, cardinal directions in a wrong-way concurrency . For example, near Wytheville, Virginia , there is a concurrency between Interstate 77 (which runs primarily north–south, as it

2560-648: The foundation piers. The Commodore Barry Bridge is an example of this type of cantilever bridge. Steel truss cantilevers support loads by tension of the upper members and compression of the lower ones. Commonly, the structure distributes the tension via the anchor arms to the outermost supports, while the compression is carried to the foundations beneath the central towers. Many truss cantilever bridges use pinned joints and are therefore statically determinate with no members carrying mixed loads. Prestressed concrete balanced cantilever bridges are often built using segmental construction . Some steel arch bridges (such as

2624-488: The media. Due to the Mississippi River's winding course through the New Orleans area (the river is flowing north at the place where the two bridges cross), the bridge contains two wrong-way concurrencies , with the east bound span carrying Business US 90 West , while the west bound span carries Business US 90 East . The Crescent City Connection was the fifth most traveled toll bridge in the United States in 2006, with annual traffic exceeding 63 million vehicles. The bridge

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2688-579: The middle of the concurrency will still be signed on most maps and road atlases. Most concurrencies are simply a combination of at least two route numbers on the same physical roadway. This is often practically advantageous as well as economically advantageous; it may be better for two route numbers to be combined into one along rivers or through mountain valleys. Some countries allow for concurrencies to occur, however, others specifically do not allow it to happen. In those nations which do permit concurrencies, it can become very common. In these countries, there are

2752-569: The motorways coincide for the seven miles (11 km) between junctions 12 and 18 but the motorway between those points is only designated as the M60 (although in this case the same junction numbers would also apply to the M62). European route numbers as designated by UNECE may have concurrencies (for instance E15 and E30 around Greater London ), but since the E-route numbers are unsigned and unused in

2816-1263: The name for the spans. Other names voted on for the naming of the spans included: the Crescent City Twins, the Delta Twins, the Crescent City Bridge, the New Orleans Metro Span, the Crescent City Gateway, the Crescent City Twin Span, the Crescent City River Bridge, The Big Easy and the Li'l Easy, the Jazz City Bridge, the Big East Twin Spans, The Pelican Bridge, the Fleur-de-Lis, the Greater Mississippi River Bridge,

2880-466: The needed infrastructure to accomplish the plan and has largely been dropped. Upon its opening in 1958, the GNO Bridge charged a toll of 35 cents for cars and light trucks, and higher tolls for heavier vehicles. The toll was reduced to 30 cents on July 1, 1962. While running for governor John McKeithen published a campaign promise to remove the toll if he were elected,. After he was elected the toll

2944-469: The numbers will be arranged vertically or horizontally in order of precedence. The order to be used is Interstate Highways , U.S. Highways , state highways , and finally county roads , and within each class by increasing numerical value. Several states do not officially have any concurrencies, instead officially ending routes on each side of one. There are several circumstances where unusual concurrencies exist along state borders. One example occurs along

3008-491: The province's only concurrency between two 400-series highways . The concurrency was not in the original plan which intended for both the QEW and Highway 403 to run parallel to each other, as the Hamilton–Brantford and Mississauga sections of Highway 403 were initially planned to be linked up along a corridor (later planned to be tolled ) now occupied by Highway 407 . To avoid forcing drivers to pay tolls to use

3072-705: The river. It is the farthest downstream bridge on the Mississippi River. It is also the widest and most heavily traveled bridge on the lower Mississippi; the only other comparable bridges on the Mississippi are in the St. Louis area, those being the Poplar Street Bridge , the Jefferson Barracks Bridge , and the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge . What later became known as the Crescent City Connection

3136-481: The roads is considered the main ("source") road and the others as the péaging (guest) roads. The official road map enables a maximum of five concurrent routes of the intrastate numbering system. Cycling routes and hiking routes are often concurrent. In Israel, two freeways , the Trans-Israel Highway (Highway 6), and Highway 1 run concurrently just east of Ben Shemen Interchange . The concurrency

3200-434: The routes has its exit numbers dominate over the other and can sometimes result in having two exits of the same number, albeit far from each other along the same highway. An example of this is from the concurrency of I-94 and US 127 near Jackson , Michigan. The concurrent section of freeway has an exit with M-106 , which is numbered exit 139 using I-94's mileage-based numbers. US 127 also has another exit 139 with

3264-766: The same roadway (and vice versa), is the only wrong-way concurrency in British Columbia. Concurrencies are also very common in Quebec . Most notably, the Samuel-de-Champlain Bridge features a concurrency with three Autoroutes: A-10 , A-15 , and A-20 . Another example is A-55 , which runs concurrently with A-10, A-20, and A-40 , all of which are major highways. In Ontario , the Queen Elizabeth Way and Highway 403 run concurrently between Burlington and Oakville , forming

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3328-667: The same time, there could be an extension of another highway designation that is used to replace the newly shortened designation with another one. Between states, US 27 in Michigan previously ran concurrently with I-69 from the Michigan–Indiana state line to the Lansing, Michigan , area. From there it turned northwards to its terminus at Grayling . In 1999, the Michigan and Indiana departments of transportation petitioned

3392-405: The second span began in March 1981. Despite promises that it would be ready for the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition , it did not open to traffic until September 1988. The second span was originally designated as the Greater New Orleans Bridge No. 2. Both bridges were designed by Modjeski & Masters, Inc. As soon as the new span was opened, the old span was temporarily closed in phases to replace

3456-412: The site of a task where contestants had to jump off one of the beams. Cantilever bridge The steel truss cantilever bridge was a major engineering breakthrough when first put into practice, as it can span distances of over 1,500 feet (450 m), and can be more easily constructed at difficult crossings by virtue of using little or no falsework . Engineers in the 19th century understood that

3520-436: The southern end of the US 127 business loop in Mount Pleasant , Michigan. (US 127's mile markers in Michigan reflect the cumulative distance north of the Ohio state line; the numbers resume north of the I-94 overlap and reflect the distance accumulated on that concurrency.) However, there are also instances where the dominant exit number range is far more than the secondary route's highest exit number, for example

3584-408: The state, is required because of the high traffic volume and the fact that the two spans briefly cross into Jefferson Parish and the city of Gretna, Louisiana. Since renaming of the twin bridges, some local residents refer to the bridge as "The GNO", in spite of the name change from decades past. Most people refer to it as the "CCC", whereas the proper name of "Crescent City Connection" is used mainly in

3648-468: The storm, only emergency personnel and contractors were permitted to use the bridge. The bridge reopened to traffic in mid-September as decreasing water levels on the East Bank of Orleans Parish allowed Interstate 10 to reopen and residents to return, but then was temporarily closed to regular traffic again when another evacuation was declared due to Hurricane Rita , with the bridge again reopening in late September. Toll collection resumed on October 10 after

3712-431: The structural principles of the suspended span cantilever by sitting in chairs and supporting their colleague, Kaichi Watanabe , in between them, using just their arms and wooden poles. The suspended span, where Watanabe sits, is in the center. The wooden poles resist the compression of the lower chord , while the outstretched arms support the tension of the upper chord. The placement of the brick counterweights demonstrates

3776-406: The system until tolls were ended in 2013. However, in the first quarter of 2005, the CCCD awarded a contract to Electronic Transaction Consultants (ETC) Corporation to design, develop and implement a replacement toll collection system. The "GeauxPass" was announced in the summer of 2009 as the new statewide electronic toll system for Louisiana. GeauxPass is compatible with the Crescent City Connection,

3840-411: The toll extension and officially ended tolls on the Crescent City Connection. The referendum was defeated by 78% of voters in Orleans, Jefferson and Plaquemines Parishes. The Crescent City Connection introduced toll tags on January 4, 1989, becoming the first toll facility in the United States to use electronic toll collection . The system was originally designed and installed by TransCore , who managed

3904-460: Was 275 feet (84 metres) deep and took full advantage of the fact that falsework, or temporary support, is not needed for the main span of a cantilever bridge. The Forth Bridge is a notable example of an early cantilever bridge. This bridge held the record for longest span in the world for twenty-nine years until it was surpassed by the Quebec Bridge . The engineers responsible for the bridge, Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Fowler , demonstrated

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3968-402: Was completed in 1867 and is recognized as the first modern cantilever bridge. The High Bridge of Kentucky by C. Shaler Smith (1877), the Niagara Cantilever Bridge by Charles Conrad Schneider (1883) and the Poughkeepsie Bridge by John Francis O'Rourke and Pomeroy P. Dickinson (1889) were all important early uses of the cantilever design. The Kentucky River Bridge spanned a gorge that

4032-439: Was removed on May 16, 1964. Tolls were again collected on the Crescent City Connection as defined in Louisiana state law R.S. 47:820.5(B). This law said that from October 1, 1994, through December 31, 2012, tolls were to be collected at a rate of $ 0.20 per axle for toll tag users, and $ 0.50 per axle for cash users. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, annual toll collections averaged $ 20 million. There have been investigations conducted by

4096-426: Was removed, the highway north of the Lansing area was renumbered US 127, and the US 27 designation was removed from I-69. Some consolidation schemes involve the use of incorporating two single-digit numbers onto one marker, as along the US 1/9 concurrency in northern New Jersey . In the mid-20th century, California had numerous concurrencies, but the California Legislature removed most of them in

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