Avondale Shipyard was an independent shipbuilding company, acquired by Litton Industries, in turn acquired by Northrop Grumman Corporation. Now, along with the former Ingalls Shipbuilding, the yard is part of Huntington Ingalls Industries. The yard is located on the West Bank of the Mississippi River in an area called Bridge City, approximately 20 miles (32 km) upriver from New Orleans, Louisiana near Westwego, Louisiana. It was the site of the modernization of the USS Iowa in the early 1980s and also constructed some of the lighter aboard ships (LASH).