Harahan Pump to the River
NEW ORLEANS -The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently awarded a contract to construct the discharge structure for the Harahan Pump to River project on the east bank of Jefferson Parish. The project is part of the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Damage Risk Reduction Project (SELA). When complete, the project will reduce the risk of damages from a 10-year rainfall event, which is a storm that has a 10 percent chance of happening in a given year and equates to approximately 9 inches of rain over a 24-hour period for our area.
On March 4, the Corps awarded a $24.3 million contract to Louisiana-based B & K Construction. The approximately 30-month contract calls for constructing more than 2,000 feet of three 84-inch diameter pipes between Jefferson Highway and the Mississippi River. The pipes will run underground along Powerline Drive from Jefferson Highway to Riverside Drive and then up and over the Mississippi River levee. The pipes will then be placed underground in the batture area to the river bank. A notice to proceed should be issued by late March and construction should be completed in late 2015 / early 2016.
This is the second of five remaining projects to complete the entire Harahan Pump to River project. The design of the remaining three project elements will be completed by the end of 2013; all construction on the Harahan Pump to the River project will be substantially complete by 2017.
A large portion of the work to improve major drainage canals and pump stations on both the east and west banks of Jefferson Parish is already complete. A total of fifty four SELA contracts have been awarded to date, with work completed on forty five of those projects. All scheduled SELA work in Jefferson Parish should be substantially finished in late 2017 / early 2018.
Release no. 13-010