NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- A major bridge over Lake Pontchartrain that was torn apart by Hurricane Katrina reopened fully to traffic just before dawn Friday.
Katrina's storm surge ripped giant sections of the five-mile (8-kilometer) concrete bridge, which links New Orleans and Slidell, Louisiana, and tossed some into the lake. Other sections of the bridge shifted by as much as 5 feet (1.5 meters).
Crews cannibalized undamaged sections from the westbound span to patch the eastbound lanes, which were converted temporarily to two-way traffic.
That left about a mile of the westbound roadway missing, and they were replaced with a system of metal trusses and decking. [Read more - CNN]
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