DOTD accepts bids for LA 1 elevated segment

James Construction was awarded a contract to build a 6.8-mile section of elevated highway that will run from the newly constructed overpass at Leeville south to La. 3090, better known as “Fourchon road.”

The construction company submitted a big of slightly over $137 million Wednesday.

The bid came in very near the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development’s (DOTD) cost projections of $134 million.

Some $40 million needed for the construction project is already in hand. It was generated from a variety of sources, including state transportation fund dollars, discretionary federal funds and an allocation from 2005 federal transportation legislation, according to Henri Boulet, executive director of the LA1 Coalition. The group is working for the project’s ultimate completion.

The remaining funding is expected to come from various sources, including Coastal Impact Assistance Project (CIAP) funds, state budget monies and possibly through an allocation from the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA), the agency set up after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to disperse funding to entities affected by the storms, Boulet explained.

The LRA has a portion of money set aside for critical infrastructure projects of which the Coalition is hoping to get a portion to pay for construction of the elevated highway project.

Boulet noted that the CIAP funding is slated to be announced next week and that the project could receive $35 to $40 million to be put toward the project.

“The contract for the Leeville to Fourchon segment is expected to be signed in the first few months of 2007,” he said.

Actual construction on the segment is expected to begin in the summer of 2007 and will utilize end-on-end construction where one section at a time will be built. “This is highly specialized work using huge cranes,” said Boulet, noting that the Leeville to Fourchon segment is expected to take four years to complete. Work should be complete in 2011, he said.

Work on the new overpass over Bayou Lafourche should be complete in 2009, Boulet said.

Once the Fourchon segment is fully funded, Boulet said the LA 1 Coalition will turn its attention to helping acquire monies for the nearly nine-mile stretch of elevated two lane highway from Leeville to the southern corporate limits of Golden Meadow. Cost estimates for that portion of roadway are expected to cost approximately $220 million.

“It’s a very exciting time for our community,” said Boulet. “Completion of this elevated highway will help to ensure economic stability for the entire region.”