Gov.’s wife joins effort to build Gray Habitat home
May 18, 2010Thursday, May 20
May 20, 2010The Terrebonne Parish Levee and Conservation District opted to move forward with more than $3.6 million in projects last Tuesday, approving the construction of barge gates at Placid and Bush canals, structures that will give added protection and peace of mind to residents living along the southernmost tip of Chauvin.
The measures were approved unanimously at a routine board meeting last week.
Volute, Inc., a contracting firm based in Houma, was awarded both projects, with construction slated to begin sometime in June. Officials with the levee district said their aims were to have the structures completed within a year, or by the start of next year’s hurricane season. Meeting those goals, however, could cost officials more than just pocket change.
The structure at Placid Canal will run the levee district about $400,000 more than it originally planned, with a final sticker price of $1,558,900. An estimate for the structure at Bush Canal was originally pegged at about $1.5 million, but the project was awarded for more than $2.2 million.
Performance Energy, a low-bidder for both gates, could have saved the district $547,292, but the company’s bid was swept aside because it included exclusions and clarifications, which are not allowed during public bid sessions, explained Jimmy Degate, an attorney for the levee board. With the additional information, “…you’re not comparing apples to apples,” he said.
According to documents issued by Shaw Coastal, Inc., the company charged with reviewing the bids, Performance Energy did not include their name or address on the outside of the bid envelope, or an affidavit to accompany the bid. After consulting with Degate, Shaw deemed the proposal “non-responsive.”
Volute submitted the second-lowest bid.
Once complete, the Bush Canal barge gate will span nearly 68 feet. An identical structure at Placid Canal will measure about 43 feet long. Officials said these are the first floodgates to be built by the levee district, which has often been strapped for cash, in about 15 years.
Even with the million-dollar price tags, crews will still have to build floodwalls and receiving structures at both sites once the gates are finished, said Terrebonne Parish Levee and Conservation District Executive Director Reggie Dupre. The group will begin accepting bids for those projects around May 28.
MIGHTY MORGANZA
Officials also submitted a $20,000 check to the State for permits to start work on a section of levee termed “Reach F.” Dupre said $15,000 would be put toward dredging out of the Houma Navigational Canal (HNC).
The levees that comprise the reach are broken down into two parts, F-1 and F-2, and run parallel to the HNC. Once complete, the barriers will help protect Dulac.
After the permits are cleared by the state, they will move on to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for federal approval, explained Dupre.
