NEW ORLEANS-The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District recently awarded an $8.1 million contract to Aquaterra-CAYO to construct fronting protection at Diamond Pump Station located between St. Jude and City Price. This is the second of nineteen New Orleans to Venice (NOV) / Non- Federal Levee (NFL) contracts to be awarded that will reduce risk in Plaquemines Parish south of the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System.
The contract includes construction of a concrete T-wall in front of the pump station and an extension of the pump discharge pipes through the floodwall. Valves or gates will also be incorporated into the discharge pipes to prevent backflow. Fronting protection will reduce the effects of storm surge on the pump station during a tropical event. In addition, tie-ins into existing levees on both sides of the pump station are scheduled for upgrades. (Project area and fronting protection image are noted on the below map.)
The fronting protection feature will bring Diamond Pump Station into compliance with new standards and ensure residents near the pump station have a continuous line of risk reduction. Construction should be complete late 2015.
The NOV / NFL projects are two separate projects being constructed on a complementary timeline that will reduce risk in Plaquemines Parish and defend against a storm surge event that has a two percent chance of occurring in any given year. The NOV project includes approximately 37 miles of back levee modifications, fronting protection and 2 sector gates on the westbank; and floodwall fronting protection at 2 locations on the eastbank. The NFL project area is located on the westbank, where the Federally-authorized West Bank and Vicinity project ends in Oakville. The NFL project includes approximately 20 miles of back levee replacements or modifications and a tie-in to the Mississippi River Levees.
Release no. 12-061