[StBernard] Corps signs off on Chalmette Loop levee plan

[Westley Annis]

Corps signs off on Chalmette Loop levee plan
by Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
Thursday May 28, 2009, 12:30 PM
The district commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has officially
signed off on a plan to build a 22-mile ring of concrete walls on top of the
existing levee system around St. Bernard Parish.

The decision comes after a 30-day public comment period that ended this
week. Corps New Orleans District Commander Col. Alvin Lee officially signed
off on the so-called Chalmette Loop levee system on Tuesday.

The Corps still must finalize design plans and obtain rights of entry for
construction on the concrete floodwall system, according to a Corps news
release. Construction will not begin until late this year, after the start
of hurricane season.

Levee upgrades meant to protect St. Bernard from a so-called 100-year storm
will involve earthen levees capped with concrete T-walls for a total height
of between 29 and 31 feet. The ring will extend along the shoreline of the
Mississippi River Gulf Outlet from Bayou Bienvenue, east of where Paris Road
crosses the Intracoastal Waterway, down to Verret and then back west to meet
the Mississippi River at Caernarvon, near the border of Plaquemines Parish.

St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro called the levee "incredibly
important.''

"It gives us a sense of security,'' he said.