Au Revoir, Vida Shaw

Plans are in the works to swap out the old, one-lane Vida Shaw swing-span bridge with a newer — albeit “used” — two-lane bridge this summer.

When the Delcambre bridge on Louisiana 14 was constructed and the road widened in the late 1990s, workers used a temporary “bascule” bridge to cross the canal. That’s the one that will be moved this summer — in sections — to Vida Shaw Road.

A bascule is a structure counterbalanced so that when one end is lowered the other is raised. The current bridge crossing Bayou Teche on Vida Shaw Road swings open to allow for marine traffic.

It’s supposed to be a sign of progress — the upgrading of a bridge from one to two lanes, making for easier traffic flow.

But residents of the immediate area around the bridge question the wisdom — and motive — of the plan.

“There’s not enough traffic out here to warrant the expense of replacing that bridge,” said Danny “Sonny” David Jr., who just a year ago moved his family onto property bordered by Vida Shaw Road, and the bridge. “Very seldom — very, very seldom — do you see one vehicle stopped and waiting for another to cross.”

Wayne Eldridge, who has lived in the area for many years, said the only reason the parish is pushing for the replacement of the bridge is for a shortcut for cane farmers.

“Right now, loaded trucks can’t — well, they aren’t supposed to — cross that bridge,” Eldridge said. “All this (bridge replacement) is going to do is increase the cane traffic along Northside Road.”

The bridge is posted for a 5-ton weight limit. A loaded cane truck weighs more than 30 tons. A loaded school bus weighs between 6 and 8 tons. School buses do not use the bridge.

Eldridge contends that farmers hauling cane to Cajun Co-op would rather turn off the Loreauville Highway and cross the bayou on Vida Shaw than drive a couple of miles to Olivier-Belle Place Road and cross there. A number of drivers already use the Vida Shaw route to return to the fields after delivering the cane to the mill.

“It’s just going to tear up Northside Road worse than it already is,” Eldridge said. “Northside is a parish-maintained road. The Loreauville Highway is a state highway (Louisiana 86). If one’s going to get torn up, why not let the state pay to repair it instead of the parish?

“The only people this will help are the farmers, and they can just drive a couple of more miles along Loreauville Highway and cross at Olivier-Bell Place Road. They say they don’t have any money to fix the roads, why do they want to spend money to replace this bridge?”

The replacement cost is estimated at nearly $1.5 million, according to the state Department of Transportation and Development Web site.

While the Davids agree that the new bridge would probably result in increased traffic near what is now their relatively quiet, bayou-side home, they feel there’s a more aesthetic reason to keep the current structure.

“Just look at it,” said Angela David. “You just don’t see bridges like that any more.”

The narrow span with the steel girders forming an open, frame-work tunnel harkens back to a simpler time.

“We have people stop here all the time and ask if they can take pictures from our property with the bridge in the background,” Angela David said. “Senior portraits have been taken there; probably some wedding pictures, too. Why would anyone want to tear it down?”

Sonny David added that the most traffic he sees on the bridge is on a sunny Saturday or Sunday when “motorcycle riders and people in convertibles, with their tops down, come out here just riding.”

On the wall in his recently constructed “shop,” Sonny David has a couple of historical aerial photographs showing the bridge, the old Vida Mill and his property across the bayou. Also framed is a story from The Daily Iberian’s Talk Along the Teche recounting an explosion at the Vida Mill.

The small community of Vida once sat around the sugar mill on the banks of Bayou Teche between New Iberia and Loreauville. On Nov. 21, 1923, at about 3 p.m., an explosion at the mill left 12 people dead, 16 hurt, five boilers blown up and the recently renovated sugar mill in ruins.

The mill was rebuilt and resumed operations for the 1924 grinding season. It continued to operate until the late 1960s. The building was torn down and its machinery moved away in the early 1970s.

One of Danny David Jr.’s photos is dated 1957. Another he knows is older because of the smokestacks on the mill, but it has no date. The bridge can be seen in both.

“I’m not exactly sure, but I think someone told me that bridge was built around 1927,” Danny David said. “At first it was pulled open by mules. Then they used tractors, then a hand crank. Now it opens and closes electronically.

“There’s just so much history there. I’d like to see the bridge registered as an official landmark or something to preserve it.”

Wayne LaBiche, parish engineer, agreed with the Davids that “it is a lovely old bridge.” He contends, however, that it will be less expensive to replace it with the new two-lane structure than to repair and maintain it.

“The state is allowing the parish to keep the structure,” LaBiche said.

“They’re going to allow the parish to bring it to a parish barn for storage so that possibly it can be used across a lake in the parish for foot traffic. They don’t want to use it any more for vehicle traffic.”

Bids for the replacement of the Vida Shaw Bridge are scheduled to be let by Louisiana DOTD April 25.