This photo was taken four days after the Bonnet Carre' Spillway was opened and the water had not reached its full capacity yet. The track is located close to the I-10 Highway and about one block from Lake Pontchartrain, almost five miles from the Mississippi River.
On May 22, debris rushing through the Spillway in the River waters washed out a small portion of this track and all that was left were two rails with no railbed, a condition that could have been disastrous had it gone unnoticed. For the time being, passengers are being downloaded in Hammond, Louisiana, and bussed to New Orleans and vice versa so as to avoid the Spillway trestle under repairs are made.
Freight trains that use this route daily are also being rerouted until repairs are made. Official National Weather Service reports say that the Mississippi River at the Bonnet Carre' Spillway will stay at its present height until at least June 14. I wonder if the levees can take the soaking and the saturation for that long.