Official Project Name
Larose to Golden Meadow, Louisiana, Hurricane Protection Project
Location
The project is located in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, about 50 miles south of New Orleans, along Bayou Lafourche between the communities of Larose and Golden Meadow.
Purpose
To provide a 100-year level of hurricane protection to the communities located along Bayou Lafourche between Larose and Golden Meadow.
Status
The project is approximately 97 percent complete.
Benefit to the Community & Project Features
The project was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1965. Project funding began in 1967 with the appropriation of $200,000 to initiate preconstruction engineering and design. Funds to initiate construction were first appropriated in 1972. To date, the first and second lifts on all levee reaches have been completed and the third fnd final lift has been completed on all but one reach. The Larose Floodgate completed in 1987 and the Golden Meadow Floodgate, now officially known as the Leon Theriot Floodgate, was completed in 1985. The project is approximately 97 percent complete. The Leon Theriot Lock was authorized on August 2005. The South Lafourche Levee District has initiated construction of the lock and has completed 2 of the 3 construction contracts.
Authority
Section 204 of Public Law 89-298 (Flood Control Act of 1965), authorized the project "Grand Isle, Louisiana, and Vicinity" to provide protection in accordance with the recommendations of the Chief of Engineers published in House Document No. 184, Eighty-ninth Congress, 1st Session
Scope
The project consists of a ring levee approximately 40 miles in length protecting the areas along the east and west banks of Bayou Lafourche, extending from Larose to just south of Golden Meadow. Floodwalls were constructed in areas where the congested nature of improvements and limited right-of-way prevented the construction of levees. The project also provides for the construction of navigable floodgates on Bayou Lafourche at the upper and lower limits of the project area. In lieu the eight gravity drainage structures that were authorized as part of the project, the locals chose to pay the additional cost for the pumping stations.