BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development closed the La. Highway 16 bridge near Southside Junior High on Monday for repairs, with work expected to wrap up before the school year begins.

According to inspectors, the wooden caps underneath the bridge were quickly deteriorating. Crews plan to jack up the bridge, remove the wooden caps and install concrete caps in their place.

"You don't want to get into the school year and have those caps deteriorate so bad that you have to close the bridge for an extended period of time," DOTD Public Information Director Rodney Mallett said. "So what we're doing now is making those repairs right now so we can extend the life of that bridge.”

DOTD said the La. Highway 16 bridge received a "fair" safety rating from engineers; however, the agency expedited the project so it would be completed before the beginning of the school year.

The bridge is scheduled to reopen Aug. 5, according to DOTD. 

Two other bridge projects are also underway across the state.

The La. 1 bridge over the Port Allen Canal, built in 1960, will have intermittent nighttime lane closures from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. for reflector installation and repairs.

That bridge carries more than 25,000 vehicles a day and received a "poor" safety rating, one of the lowest in the parish.

In Kentwood, crews will also replace an old timber bridge on East Lewiston Road with a new concrete bridge. The $1.8 million project is funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, with the parish adding local funds. DOTD is overseeing the project to ensure federal guidelines and specifications are followed.

Tangipahoa Parish President Robby Miller said the closure of E. Lewiston Road between Wilson Road and R. Booty Road is expected to last about nine months.

Mallett said aging infrastructure is behind all three projects.

"It's like when you buy a car, as soon as you take it off the lot, you know, it needs work, it needs repairs, and that's how all these bridges are," Mallet said. "Some of these bridges were built in the 30s, 50s, 60s, and so we work very hard to repair the bridges."

Mallett said weather could potentially delay the projects.