[StBernard] Corps of Engineers commander signs off on final portion of Chalmette Loop levee system in St. Bernard Parish

[Westley Annis]

Corps of Engineers commander signs off on final portion of Chalmette Loop
levee system in St. Bernard Parish
By Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
February 17, 2010, 6:08PM
The district commander for the Army Corps of Engineers has signed off on the
final portion of a nearly 25-mile ring of concrete-topped levees and
floodwalls around St. Bernard Parish.

Col. Al Lee, the New Orleans district commander, recently signed the
decision record for the Caernarvon Floodwall, which will tie the so-called
Chalmette Loop Levee system into the Mississippi River levee at the border
of St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes.

The move sets the stage for the corps to finalize real estate and design
specifications in order to put the project out for public bid. A contract
for the floodwall is expected to be awarded by late spring or early summer,
said corps spokeswoman Nancy Allen.

It's a small piece in the entire ring levee system, but until last month
there was some concern that the floodwall could be delayed due to real
estate concerns. To avoid displacing businesses in St. Bernard, the design
called for part of the floodwall to cross over into Plaquemines Parish -
even though residents there would not benefit from the enhanced flood
protection.

St. Bernard Parish Councilmen Wayne Landry and Fred Everhardt met with the
Plaquemines council last month to lobby for them to sign an agreement
allowing the project to cross the parish line.

The Caernarvon Floodwall will include a large sector gate across the
Caernarvon Canal and floodgates across Louisiana 39 that can be opened and
closed in the event of storms. In the event the gate is closed, there will
be an emergency access road around it.

The Chalmette Loop system consists of a series of large sector gates and
levees topped with concrete T-walls. It forms a ring from the surge barrier
at the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal, down along the shoreline of the
Mississippi River Gulf Outlet to Verret and then back west to meet the
Mississippi River at Caernarvon.

Contracts have been awarded for all other parts of the Chalmette Loop system
except two: the stretch between the surge barrier at the Inner Harbor
Navigation Canal and Bayou Dupre; and the stretch between Caernarvon and
Verret, which was protested last year.

Allen said the Corps expects to award those contracts within the next month.

Although cost estimates for the Caernarvon Floodwall have not yet been
determined, costs for contracts so far on the Chalmette Loop system total
more than $900 million.