NEW ORLEANS, LA – On Tuesday, August 28th, at 1:30PM, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closed the Seabrook Floodgate Complex for the first time due to a storm event. Following operating procedures for closing key structures of the Greater New Orleans Hurricane Storm Damage and Risk Reduction System, the closure of gates at Seabrook follows the closing of gates at the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal and Bayou Bienvenue earlier today.
The Seabrook Floodgate Complex is located at the north end of the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC; also known locally as the Industrial Canal) just south of Lake Pontchartrain and the Senator Ted Hickey Bridge. This structure works in tandem with the IHNC-Lake Borgne Surge Barrier to reduce the risk associated with a storm surge that has a one percent chance of occurring in any given year, or a 100-year storm surge, for some of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, including New Orleans East, metro New Orleans, Gentilly, the Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish. The total construction value for the Seabrook Floodgate Complex is an estimated $165 million.
Release no. 12-045