West Pearl River Bridge, Carries U.S. Route 90 (US 90) over West Pearl River, Slidell, St. Tammany Parish, LA

Significance: The West Pearl River Bridge possesses significance as one of four bridges constructed to carry US 90/Old Spanish Trail over the Pearl River in St. Tammany Parrish in the early 1930s. The bridge is an essential part of the Rigolets-Pearlington highway shortcut connecting New Orleans to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Construction of the shortcut created a more direct and efficient route between Louisiana and Mississippi and made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of Louisiana's transportation history.

The West Pearl River Bridge is also significant as an important variation within the vertical lift bridge type and is one of the earliest remaining examples of this type within Louisiana. The bridge is vertical lift spandrive bridge with a Waddell and Harrington configuration. This variation is demonstrated in the location of the drive machinery on the movable span that operates uphaul and downhaul ropes to raise and lower the span. The West Pearl River Bridge was determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 2012 under Criterion A: Transportation and Criterion C: Design/Engineering at the state level of significance.
Survey number: HAER LA-31
Building/structure dates: 1933 Initial Construction