Work set to begin on Bayou Portage bridge

PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (WLOX) - The Bayou Portage Draw Bridge in Harrison County will partially close this summer for repairs.

County crews inspect the bridge multiple times a week. During one of the recent inspections, leaking in one of the mechanisms was reported.

“The hydraulic cylinders have some seepage, which isn’t bad, but we want to correct it before it does get bad,” said Harrison County assistant road manager Joel Mechanic.

The hydraulic cylinder is responsible for lifting the draw up. When it is removed, the bridge will not be able to open for large commercial vessels.

“We’ll have to get the cylinders out, get a tug boat, a crane to hook the cylinders, then get them off the bridge and onto a barge. Once it’s on land, we’ll take it to the shop and refurbish them,” Mechanic said.

Crews will also remove the motors that pressurize the cylinders. All of these mechanisms are original to the bridge, which opened in 2003.

“We got a fairly got amount of time out of these cylinders,” Mechanic said. “That’s pretty substantial.”

The draw bridge will remain locked during repairs and drivers will not be impacted. Once the work starts, it will take two weeks to complete, if everything goes as planned.

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