Corps will expand Cataouatche levees
NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District awarded a $12.3 million contract to enlarge 2.7 miles of levees along the Lake Cataouatche alignment on the West Bank.
The project will raise the levees’ reach to the 100-year elevation standards required to reduce risk for residences and businesses from a storm surge that has a 1 percent chance of occurring each year.
The corps awarded the contract to Circle Inc. of Belle Chasse, La., to raise the levees to about 11.5 feet.
This project will provide further risk reduction for Avondale, Waggaman and Bridge City, La., from storm surge entering the lake and the greater Barataria Basin.
Construction should begin this month and be completed by February 2011. Crews will use about 1 million cubic yards of borrow, the clay material required to construct levees.
The corps is sharing responsibilities with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-West and the West Jefferson Levee District.
