Friday, April 22
April 22, 2011
Raising homes reaches above the threat
April 26, 2011
The contract has been signed and members of the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District have noted what they were able to do even when faced with resistance from federal agencies, as plans were set for L&A Contracting Co. to begin work on a $39 million receiving structure for the Houma Navigational Canal floodgate complex.
With an original cost estimate of approximately $45 million, which increased to $50 million once contingencies were added, the winning bid came in at 78 percent of the total budget amount.
“We’ve been working on this for 20-something years,” Levee District Board President Tony Alford said. “We have been trying to get a structure to stop the storm surge from coming up the navigational canal to Houma. Everything in Grand Caillou that we do, everything in Dularge that we do pretty much is in contingence with this structure. This is the receiving structure, which is the most significant part.”
“This is an extended large project and an important project for Terrebonne Parish, said L&A Construction President Lee Sims. We are excited and glad that we were the successful bidder and we are ready to execute and get started.”
Construction on the receiving structure is expected to begin in mid-June according to Sims.
The floodgate network is a part of the levee district’s interim version of the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection project.
Morganza is a series of levees and floodgates designed to protect Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes from storm surges and flooding commonly experienced during hurricanes.
The HNC floodgate complex will anchor the overall project, which is being developed in sectional reaches to better expedite completion by what some estimate could be as soon as 2015. The HNC complex receiving section itself could be finished by the end of 2013.
“What a great day for Terrebonne Parish and what a great day for the people of Louisiana,” said state Rep. Gordon Dove (R-Houma). “This structure can and will save Terrebonne Parish in the event of a catastrophic hurricane.” Dove went on to contend that had the levee system now being built been present during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and Gustav and Ike in 2008, damage to the area would not have been as extensive as experienced.
The overall Morganza project has been threatened by the cutting of federal funding and a congressional ban on earmarks. Alford explained that because the HNC complex is being paid for with local and state dollars, the levee district has been able to get around roadblocks that otherwise could have caused the project to fail.
The Morganza system includes 72 miles of earthen levee, 10, 50-foot wide gate structures, three, 125-foot wide gates, and 13 tidal exchange structures.
The HNC lock complex by itself will measure 110 feet wide and 800 feet long with a floodgate of 250 feet in width and a dam closure.
“It just shows what the people of this region are able to do on our own,” Alford said.
L&A Contracting Co. President Lee Sims (seated) adds his signature to a new contract with the Terrebonne Parish Levee and Conservation District. Standing behind him are from left, Oscar Pena, Levee District Executive Director Reggie Dupre, Board Chairman Tony Alford and L&A Project Manager Cory Bielstein. MIKE NIXON I TRI-PARISH TIMES
