Contemporary Arts Center (New Orleans)
July 6, 2011
Margie Nell Barrient
July 8, 2011
Terrebonne Parish has gained access to a new round of Community Development Block Grant funding that will be used to replace and repair old and missing valves in Houma’s waterworks system.
The Louisiana Office of Community Development Disaster Recovery Unit has awarded $980,000 to the parish. The money is being used to isolate a water main serving Terrebonne General Medical Center from the rest of the city’s water system.
During Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, several water mains in Terrebonne Parish were ruptured. This caused the system to lose pressure and caused water quality to drop below required sanitary code levels. The water supply became contaminated and a boil order was put in place for the entire parish. Of particular concern was the need to have fresh water available at medical facilities, which prompted local officials to take alternative measures to prevent future water contamination risk at TGMC.
“Replacing and upgrading these valves in Houma’s water system will help insure that Terrebonne General Medical Center doesn’t lose its potable water supply as a result of major storm events,” OCDDRU Interim Executive Director Pat Forbes said. “It is critical for the recovery and resiliency of the community that acute health care services remain available both during and after a disaster.”
Shaw Coastal project engineer Michael D’Angelo has been working on this job through the grant application process and said that valve replacements are associated with the transmission line that serves TGMC.
“This is in various locations beginning near Short and Dunn streets and proceeding to Main Street, towards the hospital,” D’Angelo said. “I would say off the top of my head maybe between 10 and 20 [valves will be replaced or installed to make this a dedicated main].”
The project is currently under preliminary design and an environmental records review is being conducted as required by the CDBG. “We are doing that hand-in-hand because the environmental review is a lengthy process and can take up to 90 days for that to be completed,” D’Angelo said.
CDBG funds will be released only after the environmental records review has been finished. At this point, D’Angelo estimated that by the final quarter of the year a project design should be complete and available to advertise for construction bid. The construction duration is expected to last four months.
“This will allow us to secure a water supply to the hospital,” Consolidated Waterworks District No. 1 General Manager Tom Wilson said. “[This] will benefit the entire parish.”
CDBG funds will be used to install water valves ranging in size from six to 16 inches on approximately 5,900 linear feet of existing lines.
In some areas street pavement and curbs will be replaced, according to parish officials.
In addition to isolating the TGMC water supply from the general distribution system, added valves would allow smaller segments of the system to be shut off during a leak, so repairs can be made with the least amount of interruption to residents and businesses.
To date, the OCDDRU has allocated more than $123 million in Gustav-Ike disaster recovery funds to Terrebonne Parish.
Funding is secured through a $1 billion CDBG package received by Louisiana from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for damages associated with hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
Consolidated Waterworks District No. 1 crewmembers Phillip Trahan, on backhoe, and Freddie Goodwin get started at transferring service from a 6-inch cast iron line to a 12-inch AC line in Dulac. MIKE NIXON
