WHISKEY BAY - The Basin Bridge is back open Saturday after it was forced to close for crews to repair a large hole in the road. 

DOTD said workers found "extensive damage" to a portion of the bridge deck on I-10 eastbound near Whiskey Bay in October. The right lane has been closed in the area since the damage was found.

"They noticed that the hole was in the bridge. It could have been that the spalling was more extensive than when they first got there, it could have been something to do with the work that they were doing and how the deck was deteriorating," Rodney Mallett, a spokesman for DOTD, said.

Contractors visited the site Wednesday and set a plan to have the bridge fixed by Monday, Nov. 20, ahead of peak travel times for Thanksgiving. The bridge re-opened Saturday afternoon.