Crucial levee link completed

Gators in mailbox stun carrier
June 14, 2016
Our view: Our hearts are with Orlando
June 14, 2016
Gators in mailbox stun carrier
June 14, 2016
Our view: Our hearts are with Orlando
June 14, 2016

A crucial link in Terrebonne Parish flood protection was completed Sunday with the connection officially made between Pointe-aux-Chenes and the Falgout Canal.


(Click here to see video of the construction project)

Parish President Gordon Dove said a decision was made for dirt fill rather than building of a floodgate at the Four Point nexus. That work will ensure Terrebonne has 35-consecutive miles of protection from Falgout Canal Floodgate to Pointe-Aux-Chenes, where a floodgate is joined to the system.

Within the stretch, contractors have been working on segments, referred to as reaches, to build the system up.


The Morganza system, of which the new stretch is a part, is designed to feature 98 miles of earthen levees offering between 9-15 feet of protection, extending from Terrebonne’s town of Gibson to Lockport in Lafourche Parish, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Aligning the levees will be 22 floodgates on navigable waterways and 23 environmental water control structures. The system’s major feature is the Houma Navigation Canal lock complex, a $300 million project along one of Houma’s most important waterways.

Dove, who has been an avid backer of the flood protection program and helped lay its groundwork when he was a state legislator, was present for the connection, which occurred at 9 a.m. Sunday. •