Construction at the massive Inner Harbor Navigation Canal - Lake Borgne Surge Barrier continues
NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will open the new Gulf Intracoastal Water Way (GIWW) barge gate at 8:00 a.m. on August 16 to all marine traffic. The main navigation channel at the GIWW will simultaneously close for approximately one year to accommodate the installation of the future sector gate. Signal pile clusters with red lighting will be in place to aid marine traffic in transiting the barge gate.
“Opening up the barge gate allows us to start work on the sector gate, an essential feature of the surge barrier at Lake Borgne,” said Col. Robert Sinkler, Commander of the Hurricane Protection Office. “This represents a major milestone in the effort to reduce risk for the people of southeastern Louisiana.”
Cofferdam construction will require that crane barges, push boats and material barges work in the main GIWW navigation channel throughout the closure period. The construction schedule will be 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Marine traffic should pass through the construction area at the slowest safe speed to minimize wake.
A Helper Assistant Boat / Contact Vessel (HAB / CV), the “GIWW Watch Dog,” has been stationed in the construction zone to provide information to all mariners and ensure safe transit though the construction zone. The “GIWW Watch Dog” is currently assigned to the M/V Jennifer B. Settoon and can be reached on marine channels 18A and 16. All passing arrangements through the construction area by marine traffic must be managed by the “GIWW Watch Dog.”
Questions and / or concerns related to construction impacts can be addressed on the Corps’ Construction Impacts Hotline: 877-427-0345.
The massive 1.8 mile IHNC Surge Barrier is a key feature of the greater New Orleans Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System. The barrier will reduce the risk of storm damage to some of the region’s most vulnerable areas – New Orleans East, metro New Orleans, the Ninth Ward, Gentilly and St. Bernard Parish – by reducing surge generated from the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Borgne.
Currently, the barrier wall is 99 percent complete and all three gates are under construction. Crews continue to work around the clock to meet the 2011 deadline for providing the 100-year level of risk reduction to the citizens of Southeastern Louisiana.
Learn more about all the projects the Corps is constructing as part of Greater New Orleans Hurricane and
Storm Damage Risk Reduction System by visiting http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/hps2/. Media interested in visiting the IHNC Surge Barrier or other Corps projects are welcome to contact Nancy Allen at (504) 862-2080.
