The Vida Shaw bride near Loreauville is locked in the “open” position because parish crews had to struggle to get it closed a couple of weeks ago.

Bids for its replacement have been accepted by the state Department of Transportation and Development.

The parish barn has a storage spot waiting for it when it is taken from its current location.

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But the Vida Shaw bridge isn’t gone yet.

Touted as possibly the oldest single-lane, swing-span bridge in the state, the nearly 70-year-old structure crossing Bayou Teche between New Iberia and Loreauville has been the subject of controversy since March when a grassroots effort was launched to save it.

The state Department of Transportation and Development twice delayed the call for bids for the bridge’s replacement before accepting proposals within the past month.

Now the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation has issued a directive to the Louisiana Division of the Federal Highway Administration requesting that the replacement of the bridge again be delayed.

“A directive is not technically what you would call an injunction, but it’s a request that cannot be denied,” said Kitty Henderson of the Historic Bridge Foundation of the United States, based in Austin, Texas. “It is requesting that (the work) stop until the question of eligibility to the National Register (of Historic Places) be resolved. The Keeper of the National Register that call.”

“Historical significance” was one of the arguments posed by supporters of the “Save Vida Shaw” effort. However, repeated attempts to have the bridge included in a historical registry had failed and the Iberia Parish Council, faced with the possibility of losing the federal bridge replacement grant for the project, voted 10-3 in mid-June to allow DOTD to call for the bids.

“We thought it was over,” Chris Burton, spokesman for the save-the-bridge group said. “We were surprised by this latest development. Hopefully it will have a positive outcome.”

Burton said that with historic designation, the bridge would become eligible for other sources of funding for its repair and maintenance.

“Maybe if the problem of funding was taken out of the equation, more people would realize what a jewel we have here and not want to get rid of it,” he said.

Burton stressed that this latest development does not reflect on the parish’s actions in regards to the bridge replacement.

“We’re not upset at all with the parish,” he said. “We’re upset with the way the federal requirements (for historical designation) have not been followed.”

Danny David Jr., who lives at the corner of Northside and Vida Shaw roads and practically has the bridge in his backyard, said he can’t understand how the bridge would not be considered a historic structure.

“I understand there was some discussion at the Parish Council a little while back where they wanted to try to make the whole Bayou Teche a historic waterway,” David said. “How significant does that make this bridge? It’s an integral part of the history of the Bayou Teche. It’s all that remains of the community of Vida.”

Parish Councilman Glenn Romero, who represents that area of the parish and voted in favor of the replacement, said he was told that the project would be delayed about 45 days while a decision is made.

“That’s all we know right now,” he said.

Bill Fontenot, Acadiana district administrator for DOTD, was not available for comment Friday.

Vida Shaw bridge was scheduled for replacement later this summer. It was to be removed from its current location and stored at the parish barn until such time as a permanent place could be found. Plans are to replace it with a more modern two-lane bridge that had once been used as a detour crossing over the Delcambre Canal when the current lift-span there was constructed in the 1990s.