Southeast Louisiana Project (SELA)
NEW ORLEANS -The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District recently awarded a 38-month contract to Boh Bros Construction Co, Inc. for increased drainage along Napoleon Ave. in Orleans Parish. The contract, which is part of the Southeast Louisiana Project (SELA), will reduce the risk of damages from a 10-year rainfall event. A 10-year event is a rain storm that has a 10 percent chance of happening in a given year and equates to approximately nine inches of rain over a 24-hour period for our area.
The $38 million contract calls for constructing approximately 3,000 linear feet of a concrete covered box culvert under the neutral ground along Napoleon Avenue from Carondelet Street to Constance Street. The new culvert will parallel an existing box culvert and will tie in to the new culvert under Napoleon Avenue at Carondelet Street and the existing box culvert at Constance Street.
Before construction activities can begin, a licensed arborist will clear the neutral ground of all trees and shrubs on Napoleon Ave. between Carondelet and Laurel Streets. That phase of work will begin during the week of November 11. Tree removal for this project has been coordinated with the Corps' partner, the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, as well as with the City of New Orleans’ Parks and Parkways department. The Corps will coordinate with the city of New Orleans and interested residents in developing a landscape design. Soon after the project is complete in the spring of 2016, landscaping will be restored in this area.
The Corps will continue to work closely with its partners at the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans on the SELA program. To date, a total of seventeen SELA contracts have been awarded in Orleans Parish, with work completed on ten of those projects. All scheduled SELA work in Orleans Parish should be finished in 2018.
Release no. 13-074