[StBernard] Army Corps updates St. Bernard residents on flood control

[Westley Annis]

Army Corps updates St. Bernard residents on flood control 

10:48 PM CDT on Monday, May 11, 2009

 Susan Edwards / Eyewitness News

sedwards at wwltv.com 


CHALMETTE, La. - Proposed plans for flood control caught the attention of
about 50 St. Bernard Parish residents Monday, each of them in search of
specifics from the Army Corps of Engineers. 


The Chalmette Loop is a bundle of projects designed by the Army Corps to
protect St. Bernard Parish residents from flooding and storm surge during
hurricanes, by connecting it to the MRGO levee, all along the Eastern end of
the parish, then connecting it to the Mississippi River Levee. 

"Right now we have existing earthen levees, mounds of dirt. What we are
proposing is to build T-walls. essentially, it's an inverted "T", concrete
and steele, pile-founded, and substantially stronger, roughly 10-12 feet
higher than what we have now," said Chris Gilmore, senior project manager
for the Army Corps. 

But it's the range of feet, marked in green on the map available for viewing
by residents, instead of concrete numbers for those levee heights, that has
parish council member Wayne J. Landry concerned. 

 "The levee heights on the loop need to be at least the height of the surge
barrier, or greater than (that)," said Landry. 

The Corps said the range accommodates the changes in elevation along the
proposed areas. 

"That is significantly higher than pre-Katrina and significantly higher than
it is now," said Gilmore. "Right now the existing levee is roughly 19 to 20
(feet), so we are going up 10-12 feet in some areas." 

Another worry for residents and St. Bernard parish leaders is the timing of
when the levee loop will be built. Landry says that must happen before
construction and operation of the surge barrier. 

"Having a surge barrier prior to having the loop completed would be a big
problem for St. Bernard Parish," said Landry. 

Still, residents are hoping for more specific information on those concerns.
Parish leaders have even appealed to Army Corps leaders in Washington D.C.
for answers, and residents hope their feedback Monday night will make a
difference. 

There is also a proposed change to another St. Bernard project for the Bayou
Bienvenue project. The Army Corps is now proposing a vertical lift gate
there. 

This is not the last meeting on these projects. There will be more
opportunities in the coming weeks for residents to give their feedback.