Phase II of lakefront levee work in Orleans Metro
NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently awarded a $33 million
contract to Tetra Tech EC Inc., a New Jersey based firm, for construction services on the
lakefront levee reach from 17th Street Canal to Topaz Street in Orleans Metro.
The eighteen-month contract calls for constructing a floodwall along the existing levee
alignment as well as removing and replacing existing gates. When complete, the project
will reduce the impacts from a storm surge event that has a one percent chance of
occurring in any given year.
“We are committed to providing the 100-year level of risk reduction for the greater New
Orleans area in 2011,” said Col. Robert Sinkler, Commander of the Hurricane Protection
Office. “Each contract that is awarded brings us closer to achieving that goal.”
NASA betterment project for levee enlargement in New Orleans East
The Corps also awarded a $6.6 million betterment contract to enlarge the levee adjacent
to the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans East. The contract, awarded to
Louisiana-based small business Purnell Construction Co., LLC will take nine months to
complete from the date of notice to proceed.
The betterment work, which is a secondary measure of risk reduction, consists of
enlarging the levee between the Michoud Slip and Michoud Canal and installing relief
wells to mitigate potential seepage. The primary risk reduction measure will be the
completion of the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC) Surge Barrier Project, which is
now well under way.
Release no. 09-076