NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, has released for public review Individual Environmental Report Supplemental (IERS) 11.d Tier 2 Pontchartrain disclosing potential impacts resulting from prolonged construction activities at the Seabrook Floodgate Complex.
"The current schedule will allow the Corps to re-open this access point to Lake Pontchartrain at th e end of June in anticipation of a busy Independence Day holiday," said Eric Stricklin, senior project manager for the Corps.
The proposed action described in IERS 11.d Tier 2 Pontchartrain consists of extending the construction end date for the Seabrook Floodgate Complex project to approximately September 2012. Construction of the $165 million project was delayed because of weather, unanticipated site conditions that slowed pile driving activities and design adjustments. The extension is necessary to complete construction associated with a steel sector gate and two vertical lift gates on the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC) south of the Senator Ted Hickey (Seabrook) Bridge. All three gates are currently in place.
The Seabrook Floodgate Complex is a feature of the Greater New Orleans Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System. The complex works in tandem with the IHNC Lake Borgne Surge Barrier to reduce storm damage risk in portions of New Orleans hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina.
For the safety of construction workers and navigation, the Corps closed the north end of the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal to all vessels by placing a rock closure and steel cofferdam near its mouth at Lake Pontchartrain. Vessels can still reach Lake Pontchartrain by traveling on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and through the Rigolets.
If at any time there are questions about construction of the Seabrook Floodgate Complex or any other Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System projects, call the Corps’ toll free Construction Hotline at 877-427-0345.
Release no. 12-020