Located in southwest Louisiana, Lake Charles has a population of approximately 80,000 and is home to one of the country's busiest ports and several casinos. To ease congestion, improve access, and aid the local economy, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) and general contractor, Johnson Brothers Corp., are making progress on the Nelson Road Extension and Bridge project in Lake Charles.
The project involves the construction of a prestressed concrete bridge over Contraband Bayou in Calcasieu Parish, along with associated roadway and infrastructure improvements spanning around 1.3 miles. Contraband Bayou runs through Lake Charles and feeds into the Calcasieu River.
The bridge structure reaches widths of approximately 94 feet, accommodating:
- Three 12-foot southbound lanes with shoulders
- Two 12-foot northbound lanes with variable shoulders
- A 12-foot shared-use sidewalk
The scope includes earthwork, Portland cement concrete pavement, asphalt paving, drainage systems, signing and striping, traffic signals, lighting, and an at-grade railroad crossing equipped with power switches, flashers, and gates.
| Your local Trimble Construction Division dealer |
|---|
| SITECH Mid-America |
| SITECH Central LLC |
| SITECH Midway |
| SITECH Central LLC |
| SITECH Midway |
| SITECH Mid-America |
| SITECH Midway |
| SITECH Mid-America |
| SITECH Central LLC |
The road will have sections with two to three southbound lanes and two northbound lanes, along with a shared-use path to support multimodal connectivity. It will tie into an existing multi-use pathway just south of the project.
The Nelson Road Extension and Bridge project will improve access to the Port of Lake Charles.
“The port is a major economic driver for the region,” said John Guidroz, LADOTD Southwest District Public Information Officer.
Spanning 203 square miles, the port handles cargo ranging from international lumber shipments to global industrial goods and serves as the No. 1 LNG export area of the world. According to the Port of Lake Charles website, the port lies along the Calcasieu Ship Channel, which “runs inland 36 miles and extends out into the Gulf of Mexico another 32 miles.”
| Your local Manitou dealer |
|---|
| Star Equipment LTD |
| Star Equipment LTD |
| Star Equipment LTD |
The website says that “more than $108 billion in industrial projects have been recently completed, underway, or announced on and around the port and Calcasieu Ship Channel areas because of their capabilities and capacity, making it one of the fastest-growing Gulf Coast ports in the United States.”
Port access is just one driver of the project. The bridge will provide a north-south connection in the area and a more direct route to the city’s downtown district.
Currently, drivers heading from the Nelson Road area to West Sallier, where the casinos are located, must use Interstate 210. Upon completion of the project, local drivers will be able to bypass the interstate, which carries significant truck traffic due to the port. This is expected to increase traffic flow and improve safety.
The extension will provide a critical connection between South Lake Charles and West Sallier Street, while also providing direct access to the Port of Lake Charles.
| Your local Komatsu America Corp dealer |
|---|
| Road Machinery and Supplies Company |
| Road Machinery and Supplies Company |
| Road Machinery and Supplies Company |
The area where the Nelson Road extension is occurring is projected to have an average daily traffic of 20,000.
When building a bridge over one of the busiest ports in the country, ships cannot simply be detoured.
“The team has been coordinating with the Coast Guard to make sure they're not interfering with maritime operations on Contraband Bayou,” Guidroz said.
“Critical operations such as trestle installation, pile driving, and beam/cap erection over water demanded detailed sequencing and planning,” Johnson Brothers Project Manager Suraj Raje said. “Through proactive coordination and execution, the construction team successfully navigated these high-risk activities while maintaining schedule integrity.”
| Your local Magni dealer |
|---|
| Kirby-Smith Machinery |
| Kirby-Smith Machinery |
| Kirby-Smith Machinery |
This is in direct contrast to the road extension.
“Because it’s a new road, the team doesn’t have to deal with lane closures, diverting traffic, or shutting roadways to accommodate for construction,” Guidroz said.
The bridge is greatly elevated, as the waterway clearance to the bottom of the bridge is approximately 50 feet. According to Guidroz, crews are working nearly 70 feet high due to the height of the girders and barriers.
Some of the bridge components, including the girders, are being transported via barge. This has required the periodic closing of Contraband Bayou.
| Your local Topcon Positioning Systems Inc dealer |
|---|
| Star Equipment LTD |
| Star Equipment LTD |
| Star Equipment LTD |
Setting the girders over the main span was a complex, critical-path operation, according to Raje. The team needed a highly coordinated two-crane pick over a navigable waterway, all within tight tolerances and a constrained setup area.
“The effort demanded extensive multi-party coordination, involving multiple subcontractors, the U.S. Coast Guard, engineering and design teams, and crane operations to align necessary approvals, manage marine traffic windows, and ensure precise execution timing,” Raje said.
“The lift was ultimately executed exactly as planned by our crews and subcontractors,” he added. “It was completed on schedule with no incidents, no rework, and no damage, demonstrating a high level of planning, communication, and field execution.”
The erection of the bent cap formwork was also challenging. It involved a 63,000-pound single-crane pick. The team used an innovative formwork approach and developed an engineered erection plan to lift and place the cap.
| Your local Gehl Co dealer |
|---|
| Star Equipment LTD |
| Star Equipment LTD |
| Star Equipment LTD |
“The lift plan addressed form rigidity, pick points, rigging configuration, crane capacity, and placement tolerances to safely set the form directly onto columns as one unit,” Raje said.
He noted that the form is reusable since it was designed to be stripped, relocated, and reused on subsequent bent caps, eliminating the need for repetitive piece-by-piece form erection.
“This approach significantly reduced formwork labor and cycle time, allowing faster turnover between cap pours and shortening the overall bent cap schedule,” Raje said.
The mass concrete placement was a challenge as well due to the supply interruptions that required switching between multiple plants and mix designs, each triggering new or revised Thermal Control Plans (TCP) to maintain compliance and constructability. The pour timing, according to Raje, was constrained by ambient conditions, requiring continuous tracking of pre-pour and post-pour weather trends to stay within allowable TCP temperature limits.
| Your local Link Belt dealer |
|---|
| Kirby-Smith Machinery |
| Kirby-Smith Machinery |
| Kirby-Smith Machinery |
Each placement of concrete included embedded temperature sensors and continuous internal concrete temperature monitoring at multiple locations.
“The engineering team proactively managed TCP submittals, revisions, and real-time data tracking, using actual temperature performance to optimize placement strategies and adjust plans as conditions changed — allowing field operations to continue smoothly with minimal disruption,” Raje said.
Established in 1929, Johnson Brothers Corp. became part of Grapevine, Texas-based Southland Holdings in the early 2000s. Southland and its subsidiaries have worked throughout the U.S. and internationally.
Johnson Brothers is currently working on a second substantial project in southwest Louisiana, a 10.5-mile section of Interstate 10 that runs east from Vinton, Louisiana, to the Texas state line. The company was chosen for the Nelson Road Extension and Bridge project because it was the lowest, most responsible, and most responsive bidder.
| Your local Takeuchi Mfg Ltd dealer |
|---|
| Star Equipment LTD |
| Kirby-Smith Machinery |
| Kirby-Smith Machinery |
| Star Equipment LTD |
| Kirby-Smith Machinery |
| Star Equipment LTD |
“To this juncture, Johnson Brothers has done a good job, working efficiently and safely as possible to get the bridge open to the public as soon as possible,” Guidroz said. “They’re well aware that the bridge will alleviate some of the bottlenecks that are occurring in the area.”
The project has a construction budget of nearly $102 million. Currently, the project is on budget. Funding for the project is being provided by the federal and state governments via the traditional 80/20 split.
Construction began on the Nelson Road Extension and Bridge project in late winter 2023 with utility relocation. Major construction activities commenced in late 2024, and the project is scheduled to conclude in summer 2027. Guidroz credits the contractor for keeping the project on schedule.
Once completed, the project will provide locals and visitors with quicker access to downtown Lake Charles by better connecting the northern and southern parts of the city. Access to and from the Port of Lake Charles will become more efficient for truck traffic, reducing delays.
- Owner/Engineer: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development
- General Contractor: Johnson Brothers Corp., Grapevine, Texas
- Designer: Stantec, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
