Corps awards $675 M contract for construction of Permanent Canal Closures and Pump Stations Last 100-year risk reduction contract to be awarded on East Bank

Published April 13, 2011

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hurricane Protection Office, today awarded a $675 million design-build contract to CBY Design Builders, a joint venture of CDM, Brasfield & Gorrie, and Yates Construction for construction of the Permanent Canal Closures and Pump Stations (PCCP) at the mouths of the 17th Street, London Avenue and Orleans Avenue Outfall Canals. This is the final Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS) 100-year contract award for the East Bank.

"This is a huge milestone in reducing risk for the people of the Greater New Orleans area," said Maj. Gen. Michael J. Walsh, Commander of the Mississippi Valley Division in Vicksburg, Miss. "Awarding this contract enables us to start work to replace the temporary structures at the three outfall canals with permanent closure structures and pump stations."

The approximately 44-month contract calls for designing and constructing the three pump stations simultaneously within the project footprint that was determined during the environmental clearance process. Construction could begin as early as June 2011, and the new structures will work in concert with the existing Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans pumping stations along each canal. During a tropical event the pump stations will evacuate rainwater from the canals into Lake Pontchartrain.

The PCCP will replace the Interim Closure Structures (ICS) that were constructed at the mouths of the three outfall canals immediately after the 2005 hurricane season. The ICS, which have a limited project life, provide risk reduction from a storm surge event that has a one percent chance of occurring in any given year.

"I want to thank our partners --- the State of Louisiana, the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority -East, Jefferson Parish and the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, as well as members of industry and our stakeholders --- for their ideas and hard work as we stand side-by-side to achieve our mutual goal: a permanent and sustainable hurricane storm surge risk reduction system for the people of Greater New Orleans,” Maj. Gen. Walsh added.


Release no. 11-088