Infrastructure Report Card 2005

Back to State Map

Louisiana

Roads

29% of Louisiana's major urban roads are congested.
54% of Louisiana's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition
Vehicle travel on Louisiana's highways increased 17% from 1990 to 2003. Louisiana's population grew 7% between 1990 and 2003.
Driving on roads in need of repair costs Louisiana motorists $1.3 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs --- $425 per motorist.
Congestion in the New Orleans metropolitan area costs commuters $299 per person per year in excess fuel and lost time

Bridges

32% of Louisiana's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

Dams

There are 16 state-determined deficient dams in Louisisana.
Louisiana has 17 high hazard dams. A high hazard dam is defined as a dam whose failure would cause a loss of life and significant property damage.
The rehabilitation cost for Louisiana's most critical dams is estimated at $9 million.

Drinking Water

Louisiana's drinking water infrastructure needs $1.27 billion over the next 20 years.

Wastewater

Louisiana has $2.37 billion in wastewater infrastructure needs.

Solid Waste

Louisiana generates 1.10 tons of solid waste per capita.
Louisiana recycles 8.1% of the state's solid waste.

Schools

50% of Louisiana's schools have at least one inadequate building feature.
66% of Louisiana's schools have at least one unsatisfactory environmental feature.

Engineer Anecdotes

"Our community is currently investigating the feasibility of creating a regional wastewater system due to unprecedented growth in the outlying rural areas. With an estimated price tag of approximately $90 million, federal assistance is an absolute necessity." - a civil engineer from Lake Charles, LA

"There has been some success in road capacity increases when the local parish (county) has stepped in with significant funding assistance (20%-30%) of project cost or they have paid for the design of the improvement both as means of moving a project forward to an earlier completion." - a civil engineer from Mandeville, LA

"Tremendous success in drainage and flood improvements have come to a halt with lack of federal money. Corps of Engineers are broke and we can't fix coastal erosion alone." - a civil engineer from New Orleans, LA

From the Headlines

It may cost $250,000 to fix a wall that collapsed, dumping 800,000 to more than 1 million gallons of sewage onto the ground and into the Red River. The broken wall is 90 feet long and 14 feet high, on the south side of the 12-year-old plant in the area where raw sewage enters the plant and is separated into pits for treatment. The plant treats about 24 million to 27 million gallons of raw sewage a day. Associated Press 2/21/04

Denham Spring's utilities have a huge unfunded infrastructure problem, facilities manager Jay Labarre told City Council members . Mayor Jimmy Durbin added that the city's sewer system is crumbling. City utilities, which generate their own income and operate separately from the general fund, don't have sufficient revenue to meet operating expenses, let alone to replace infrastructure, Labarre and Durbin told the council. Durbin said the city will have to face the costs of upgrading poor sewer infrastructure,"Sewer gas has eaten away the mortar," and concrete in the sewer system, he said. Ground water intrudes into lines and makes sewage more difficult and expensive to treat, the mayor said. The city needs to rehabilitate 10 to 15 lift stations and needs to add lines to reach all areas of the city, Durbin told the council. In some cases, sewage is going into road ditches which flow into our streams,the mayor said. The Advocate 10/21/04

Incoming Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Johnny Bradberry knew he was in for a tough job when he took over, but he didn't realize how tough. Along with maintaining 16,705 miles of roadway, including 894 miles of interstate, Bradberry's agency is responsible for maintaining 7,938 bridges, 64 general aviation airports, seven commercial airports, 2,300 miles of navigable waterways and 22 shallow- and deep-draft ports.Bradberry said the most pressing problem is the $10.6 billion backlog of road projects around the state. The department's annual budget is about $1.6 billion. "Even if we can make available an additional $400 million, we could only address 4 percent of our needs", Bradberry said, "at that rate it would take 25 years to address the backlog." New Orleans City Business Journal 10/18/04

When water rises over Louisiana 1 during foul weather, the dilapidated road that connects the nation to a critical energy port simply disappears into the marshy expanse of Lafourche Parish. When that happens, a truck driver who knows every curve of the road slowly leads convoys treading water on the invisible highway to Port Fourchon. It's a tenuous path, especially considering the $1 billion in public and private investment it took to create an intermodal port complex that provides vital services to offshore platforms populated with 11,000 workers. It's also an embarrassing image for Louisiana, which for years fruitlessly has sought federal dollars for a major upgrade. Passing over miles of desolate marsh and bayous, Louisiana 1 is the only land route to Port Fourchon, which provides the port services used by 75 percent of the deepwater drilling prospects in the Gulf. With the growth in deepwater mining, the port has grown substantially in the past 10 years. It has extensive ship loading and maintenance facilities, and it serves as a center for oil and gas pipelines coming onshore, including the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, or LOOP, 20 miles southeast. Twenty percent of Louisiana's seafood comes through there, according to the port. Louisiana 1 also provides the sole land route to Grand Isle and is the area's only evacuation route. A group called the LA 1 Coalition has documented the poor condition of the highway and its bridges. The winding road has no shoulder in places, and guardrails are deteriorated. The weakest link probably is the bridge over Bayou Lafourche in Leeville, an important passage for marine vessels. The bridge is hit frequently by ships -- 11 times in the past year -- partly because tugs and other boats have trouble navigating the narrow passage between its pilings on waters prone to riptides and unexpected currents. Times Picayune 1/3/05

Sources

Back to State Map