The dream of sportsmen in eastern St. Tammany Parish moved one step closer to reality last month as state officials accepted a proposal to turn a section of the former Interstate 10 Twin Span bridge into a fishing pier.

Parish President Kevin Davis made the announcement at a meeting of homeowner’s association representatives on Nov. 22. Submitted to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development in April, the proposal calls for a 2,000-foot portion of the eastern span of the current bridge to be turned into a pier. According to parish spokesman Tom Beale, work on the pier will not begin until the new bridge is complete, which is expected to be sometime in 2010.

“The idea was received favorably by DOTD, so they’ve accepted our proposal to move forward,” said Beale. “Since completion of the new bridge is so far off, it gives us time to work on a design and to solidify which ideas and implementation tactics will work best.”

These satellite pictures show the location of the proposed fishing pier and artificial reefs alongside the new Twin Span bridge. (Courtesy Image)

DOTD spokesman Brendan Rush said his department has approved the sale of 2,000 to 2,500 linear feet of the existing bridge to the parish, at a price of $17,100. The old bridge will continue to be used for traffic as construction of the new spans progresses.

Environmental and engineering specialists, as well as representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, weighed in on the idea before the proposal was submitted to the state.

A second proposal, submitted at the same time, supported the reuse of a portion of the existing bridge that must be torn down to make way for the new construction. The concrete from that section would be reused to build two artificial fishing reefs between the U.S. Highway 11 bridge and the new Twin Span. Beale could not confirm if that portion of the plan had been approved.

“It may be that once the fishing pier is under way, they’ll revisit the idea of the artificial reefs,” he said. “The projects go hand-in-hand, so we’d like to move forward on both of them.”