[StBernard] Plans to block surge in eastern N.O., St. Bernard OK'd

[Westley Annis]

I see how that wall will protect East NO but will it not cause the water to
be diverted toward da parish? 
 
Gaby


Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.

-Aristotle

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	Plans to block surge in eastern N.O., St. Bernard OK'd
	by Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune 
	Thursday June 05, 2008, 10:12 PM
	The Army Corps of Engineers has approved plans for protecting the
Industrial
	Canal from storm surge with a huge concrete wall and two navigation
gates. 
	
	. Click here to view the Army Corps of Engineers plan to build a
concrete
	barrier wall
	<http://blog.nola.com/news_impact/2008/06/VEECLOSE060608.pdf>
	
	The wall and gates will stretch across the triangular wetlands
sandwiched
	between levees on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway along eastern New
Orleans
	and the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet in St. Bernard Parish. 
	
	The corps, which recommended the plans based on a contractor's
proposal,
	will release a draft document June 27. The public will have 30 days
to
	comment before it is approved. 
	
	The corps on Thursday also announced its official recommendation to
Congress
	for closing the MR-GO shipping channel at Bayou la Loutre with a
rock
	barrier. Though long expected, the recommendation paves the way for
	barricading both ends of the controversial channel -- a troublesome
shortcut
	for storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico -- by the beginning of the
2009
	hurricane season. 
	
	The plan for a wall and gates was proposed by Shaw Environmental &
	Infrastructure Inc. this year as part of its successful $695 million
bid to
	design and build the protection project. The alignment Shaw chose
was one of
	five being considered in the corps's expedited environmental review
process.
	
	
	Shaw's proposal would include a small lock on Bayou Bienvenue on the
eastern
	edge of the wetland triangle for fishing boats traveling into Lake
Borgne,
	and a larger lock for commercial ships and barges on the Gulf
Intracoastal
	Waterway, said Maj. Jeremy Chapman, corps project manager. 
	
	A segment of the MR-GO along the project footprint would be filled
with clay
	or other materials into which part of the wall would be built. Most
of the
	wall -- which would rise about 20 feet above sea level -- would be
completed
	by June 1, 2009, as part of a requirement that Shaw provide
expedited surge
	protection. A deck and the upper part of the wall that could be as
high as
	31 feet above sea level in some locations would be completed by the
	beginning of hurricane season in 2011. 
	
	Two alternatives to build deepwater locks in the Gulf waterway just
east of
	the Michoud slip were rejected as too costly and disruptive to
shipping
	access to the Michoud canal. They also would have required upgrading
	floodwalls along that canal to 100-year levels, an expensive
proposition. 
	
	A shorter wall plan, closer to the junction of the MR-GO and Gulf
waterway,
	was rejected in part because it would have required relocating a
major
	pipeline, which would have delayed completion of interim protection
and
	would cost more. 
	
	A longer wall plan, to the east of the one chosen, also would have
cost
	more. 
	
	Corps officials again were criticized by Lower 9th Ward residents at
a
	meeting Wednesday for not already having built the surge barrier at
the vee
	and not building a similar surge gate at the entrance of the
Industrial
	Canal to Lake Pontchartrain. 
	
	Corps New Orleans District communications director Maj. Timothy
Kurgan said
	the agency is working as quickly as possible to provide additional
	protection, but the closure design had to wait for completion of new
	scientific studies on the threat of storm surge. 
	
	The forwarding of the MR-GO closing document to Congress marks the
	deauthorization of the 50-year-old shortcut for shipping from the
Gulf of
	Mexico to downtown New Orleans. Congress doesn't have to approve the
plan;
	it can object, but that's an unlikely scenario in this case. 
	
	It also paves the way for construction of a 950-foot-long dike of
rock
	across the canal that would be 7 feet above sea level, 12 feet wide
at its
	top and 450 feet wide at the bottom. Construction could begin 150
days after
	the corps receives notification that Congress has received the
report. 
	
	However, the corps will coordinate construction of the dike with a
separate
	project repairing and renovating the lock between the Mississippi
River and
	the Industrial Canal. While those renovations are under way, barges
using
	the canal will be detoured down the river to Baptiste Collette and
then to
	the southern end of the MR-GO, where they will travel north to
re-enter the
	Gulf Intracoastal Waterway traveling east. 
	
	Information about these levee construction projects, part of the
corps's
	larger plan to protect the region from so-called 100-year storms,
can be
	found on the Web at http://www.nolaenvironmental.gov. Information
about the
	MR-GO closing can be found at http://mrgo.usace.army.mil. 
	
	Mark Schleifstein can be reached at mschleifstein at timespicayune.com
or (504)
	826-3327.