Work began Monday to repair the hurricane-damaged Twin Span Bridge that carries Interstate 10 traffic between New Orleans and Slidell, La., U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said.

"Restoring this critical eastward link for New Orleans will speed recovery of the city and the entire Gulf region," Mineta said. "Every day we're getting road work started to reconnect the region and help people rebuild."
On Friday, a contract was awarded to Boh Brothers Construction of New Orleans to repair damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina. In order to quickly restore two-way traffic, the eastbound span will be repaired first, providing one lane of traffic in each direction, Mineta said. The contract requires work to be completed within 45 days. The second phase of the work will result in repair of the westbound span, which, along with the eastbound span, will provide two-lane traffic in each direction within 120 days.
Work also began Friday on a temporary replacement road for U.S. 90 in Mississippi, to be completed within 90 days. Parts of the road will be opened as work progresses, with full completion of the highway from Pass Christian to Biloxi scheduled for Dec. 9.