NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Shaw Group, the prime contractor on the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC)-Lake Borgne Surge Barrier, will resume the temporary weeknight closures of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) at the Surge Barrier construction site for one additional week.
The closure will now resume from June 6 to June 10, 6 p.m. to 6 a.m, so that crews can prepare the foundation for future GIWW barge gate installation. Only emergency vessels, such as the U.S. Coast Guard or local law enforcement, will be allowed passage during those times. The Corps and its contractor first closed the waterway to all marine traffic between May 2 and May 13.
The Corps and The Shaw Group are constructing a bypass barge gate and a flood control sector gate, both 150 feet wide, on the GIWW as part of the IHNC-Lake Borgne Surge Barrier project. The sector gate portion of the GIWW has been closed since August 2010 to allow crews to construct the gate foundation.
Mariners will be allowed passage through the construction area between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. but are advised to use extreme caution around hazards such as marine construction equipment, floating vessels, stationary structures and navigation buoys. Those that are trying to cross the barrier after 6 p.m. will have to spend the night on the water, barring an emergency.
Release no. 11-049