[StBernard] Corps completes Verret to Caernarvon floodwall in St. Bernard Parish

[Westley Annis]

Corps completes Verret to Caernarvon floodwall in St. Bernard Parish

 

NEW ORLEANS - It took three million man hours, 300,000 cubic yards of
concrete and 50 Eiffel towers worth of steel, but the $1.5 billion St.
Bernard risk reduction system, which stretches 23-miles from the Inner
Harbor Navigation Canal-Lake Borgne Surge Barrier at Bayou Bienvenue to the
Mississippi River Levee in Caernarvon, now defends against a storm surge
event that has a one percent chance of occurring in any given year, or a
100-year storm surge event.

 

"The final piece to the St. Bernard risk reduction system was constructing
the eight-and-a-half-mile Verret to Caernarvon floodwall," said Col. Robert
Sinkler, commander of the Corps' Hurricane Protection Office. "St. Bernard
Parish residents now have the best risk reduction system in their history." 

 

The Verret to Caernarvon floodwall contract (LPV 148) was awarded to Cajun
Constructors in fall 2010. The $376 million project included construction of
concrete floodwalls that sit atop earthen levees and are built to an
elevation of between 27 and 32 feet, depending on the location. Prior to the
2005 hurricane season, the average St. Bernard risk reduction structure was
only 14 feet. Since then the Corps has developed stricter design criteria
and materials standards.

 

"The completion of these critical levee system improvements is key to
protecting our community for generations to come," said St. Bernard Parish
President Craig P. Taffaro, Jr. "We are extremely grateful for the
partnerships at the federal level that helped make this massive undertaking
a reality."

 

Construction photos from St. Bernard Parish can be found by clicking here:

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/teamneworleans/sets/72157623832243267/>

High resolution images of projects described above are available upon
request.

 

 

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