DOTD: Washed out LA 82 in Cameron Parish to remain closed

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) -The damage from Hurricane Delta is still being assessed across Southwest Louisiana. Heavy rain and floodwater washed out a portion of Highway 82 in Cameron.

Last week, The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development announced that an emergency repair contract has been executed for the roadway washout on LA 82 (MM 42) between the Cameron Ferry and Holly Beach.

The roadway was damaged during Hurricane Delta on October 9.

The long-term effects of Hurricane Delta can be felt in much of Southwest Louisiana but even more so in Cameron Parish.

“Mile Marker 42 is completely washed out in terms of the thrust of water and the storm surge. It took all the pavement and everything with it. We’ve done an emergency declaration to repair that," said Louisiana DOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson.

It’s another item to add to the growing list of repairs as a result of the damage from Hurricane Delta.

“It’s almost a million dollars of work that’s required to reconstitute that road and shoulder," Wilson said. "We’ve had other shoulder washouts in the area that the department is monitoring.”

DOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson says initial assessments from both hurricanes are ongoing. As far as Highway 82, it’s the only state highway deemed as a total washout from Delta’s floodwaters.

“Most of the damage believe it or not was in movable bridges and not so much in structural elements. We anticipated about 15 million dollars for Laura in terms of damage. Cameron being ground central would get a significant portion of some of those improvements. Now, that we’ve added Delta, we expect it to go up a bit more.”

He says so far they’ve removed about 9 feet of water underneath the roadway.

“It was a pretty deep washout. Basically, the construction is going to be reconstituting the base and building a new road surface across that section. We also hope to armor that because we know being vulnerable to future hurricanes...Armoring where we have repaired the shoulders and bases is also important in terms of preventing this from happening in the future," Wilson said.

With the Cameron Ferry also being out of commission due to storm damage...Wilson says they’re working to bring a more modern system to the parish to help ease transportation.

“We are moving toward building and developing newer ferries for the Cameron area that will be much more efficient and have less maintenance than the existing services that we have right now.”

Right now, the ferry service in Cameron Parish has been suspended until repairs are made to Highway 82. DOTD expects those repairs to take at least one month, weather permitting.

The contractor, HD Truck and Tractor LLC began work on October 16.

Motorists are directed to use LA 27 as a detour route.