[StBernard] Corps of Engineers awards St. Bernard Parish levee contract

[Westley Annis]

Corps of Engineers awards St. Bernard Parish levee contract
By Bob Warren, The Times-Picayune 
September 24, 2009, 3:25PM
The Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday awarded a $904,675 "preconstruction
services'' contract to a company involved in the design and construction of
the Chalmette Loop levee system between Bayou Bienvenue and Bayou Dupre. 


The corps said in a news release that the contract with Odebrecht-Baker
could grow substantially: The contract includes two options that, if
awarded, would account for most of the estimated $278 million in
construction costs. 


The corps said those options include building 8.5 miles of new floodwall to
elevations of 27-32 feet that would tie in to the floodgate at Louisiana 46
and Bayou Road on the west and Verret to Caernarvon structures on the east.
Additionally, new fronting protection would be constructed to an elevation
of 32 feet at St. Mary's Pump Station. 


The Chalmette Loop is a 22-mile levee system to protect St. Bernard Parish
from surges coming from Lake Borgne and the Gulf of Mexico. The levees now
stand at 19 1/2 to 21 1/2 feet and will be raised substantially. 


The loop is designed to protect against surge created by a 100-year storm,
which has a 1 percent chance of occurring each year.