The Vida Shaw Bridge has been in the open-for-boat-traffic position since July and if you are wondering when it will be closed to allow vehicular traffic to pass again — keep wondering.

That’s because the Iberia Parish Council recently voted to pay $22,000 to have the bridge locked in its current position after concerns were raised the bridge has tilted and could fall into the Bayou Teche.

All but one Parish Council member at that meeting voted to have the work done. Councilman Ray Fremin Jr. voted against it.

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“I don’t believe it’s going to fall in the water,” Fremin said. “The reason the bridge doesn’t open or close well is because of the approaches.”

Fremin said he believes if the approaches to the single-lane swing-span bridge would be fixed, it could swing back shut and be put back into operation.

But, Wayne LaBiche, engineer for Iberia Parish, disagrees.

“The pilings that form the pedestal that the bridge rotates on, the core of support, have gotten weak and that’s what’s causing the bridge to list,” LaBiche said.

This latest debate is just the most recent in a long list of issues surrounding the Vida Shaw Bridge since the state Department of Transportation and Develop-ment began its project to replace it.

The battle started in March when a grassroots group formed to “Save Vida” as a historic landmark. A group supporting the plan to replace the bridge with a newer — albeit “used” — two-lane bascule bridge formed soon after, and the fight has been going back and forth ever since.

The most recent hangup to the project came when the Vida Shaw Bridge was deemed eligible for the National Register.

Kitty Henderson, executive director of the Historic Bridge Foundation, said because funding for the replacement project would have come from federal grants, a process known as Section 106 has to be followed to ensure historic properties are considered during federal project planning.

Fremin blames the state for the error.

“DOTD certainly knew that’s a process that needed to be followed. Why they chose not to follow it, I don’t know,” Fremin said. “My biggest concern is that we follow the law and you have to follow the 106 process.”

Also in the works is a request from the parish to Gov. Kathleen Blanco to declare the bridge as dangerous, said Councilman Glenn Romero. The bridge is in his district.

“We’re still waiting to hear from the governor,” Romero said this morning.

Romero said that if Blanco declares the bridge to be dangerous, it might allow the parish to remove it and store it a the parish barn. He said he had hoped the parish would hear something before the parish had to spend the $22,000 to put the supports under the bridge.

However, it will be about two or three weeks before Coastal Timbers can begin the work, so Romero said there is still time for word to be received from the govenor’s office.