Study to show impact of river dredging

Engineers are set to look at the economic impact of maintaining the congressionally mandated 20-foot depth in the Atchafalaya River Bar Channel in an effort to show why funding is needed to keep the river dredged.
The Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District commission approved engineering firm Moffat & Nichol to formulate a study to display to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Congress the economic effects of not having the 20-foot depth in the Atchafalaya River Bar Channel, Port Attorney Gerard Bourgeois said.
The study will also look at the long-term economic impact of ships being able to pass through the channel on a regular basis, Port Commission President Jerry Gauthier said.
“You’ve got a certain commodity, a strategic position to capture with your size, and that’s what we’re going after,” Jonathan Hird of Moffat & Nichol said. The study will examine the revenue PMI Nutrition International is generating with its ship’s visits to the port and what the port would generate with the 20-foot depth with the current infrastructure in place, Hird said.
Port Special Projects Coordinator Mike Knobloch said the study will also help port officials with its Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER Grant, application.
Hird said, “It’s much easier to ask people for money when you tell them what’s in it for them.” Maintaining that 20-foot depth affects more than just the port itself but also up and down the river, Hird said.
The final report on the study will be brief, outlining the dredging work needed, how much that work will cost and then how much money the government stands to lose in maritime commerce if the work is not performed, Hird said.
The port’s dredging funding request to the corps will be to maintain the congressionally mandated channel depth 365 days a year, Hird said.
The commission also approved extending Moffat & Nichol’s sediment dredging contract from January 2015 to July 2015.
At Monday’s port meeting, the board approved the transfer of a parcel of port property to St. Mary Parish government for use in its new industrial road in Morgan City and authorized Gauthier to sign a servitude agreement with the parish.
The road will be used only for industrial and commercial traffic, Bourgeois said.
Once the industrial road is complete, barricades will be placed at the end of Federal Avenue and Second Street so that truck drivers will have to take the truck route that goes by the port and onto Youngs Road. Therefore, those truck drivers cannot cut through the neighborhood, Port Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade said.
The barricades will also prevent the public from accessing the industrial road, Wade said.
At the July groundbreaking of the industrial road, St. Mary Parish President Paul Naquin said the project was scheduled to take about six months.
The first phase of work on the Port of Morgan City Government Emergency Operations Center, which will be located on La. 182 by the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium, is estimated to be 89 percent complete, Project Manager Walter Adams said. Adams expects the contractor, Acadiane Renovations, to complete the first phase of work in a couple weeks, he said.
The bid package for the second phase of the project was released Oct. 24 following the state bond commission issuance of a non-cash line of credit, Adams said. The bids are set to be received Nov. 20. The confirmed bidders include Acadiane Renovations in Franklin, Bonnabel Construction Company Inc. in Patterson, M.D. Descant Construction Inc. in Bunkie, MAPP Construction in Baton Rouge, and Thompson Construction in Thibodaux, Adams said.
Officials plan to award the contract for the second phase prior to Thanksgiving and begin work at the site Dec. 14, Adams said. Based on that schedule, the contracted completion date for the center would be Sept. 25, 2015, Adams said.
In other business, the commission authorized Gauthier to sign Corps of Engineers documents for a corps right of entry request regarding disposal of dredge material in Bayou Chene.