More levee work begins soon

Morgan City residents along Filmore Street can expect to see construction on the Backwater Levee project as early as late January.

Compared to the Siracusaville Levee Reach already active in its construction phase, which isn’t as visible to residents, construction of the Lake End Park to Justa Street Levee Reach section will be much more noticeable.

“You’re going to be able to see a lot of the equipment working, particularly for residents living on Filmore Street,” said T. Baker Smith spokesperson Kevin O’Gorman.

“It’ll be in the backyard, a large portion of it. It’ll impact the Cajun Coast Visitor’s Center.

“In addition to crossings under U.S. 90.”

The Lake End Park to Justa Street segment is going to start near La. 70 of the south end of Lake End Park and follow the lakefront. Then it will come down the Cook-Collins Canal and go east to Justa Street.

The project is set in the contract for 400 calendar days. At the latest, the project will begin in February and end April 2018.

Bids on the Lake End Park to Justa Street Levee Reach project were received Dec. 13. Phylway Construction LLC was the lowest bidder for the project. The base bid amount was $8.07 million.

Vibration monitoring will also take place during the project.

The contractor is required to monitor vibrations during power driving and embankment construction on the portion north of Filmore Street.

“It’s their obligation to monitor vibrations to make sure that they don’t exceed movement levels that could potentially cause damage,” O’Gorman said.

“Part of what they’re required to do is … to perform a pre-construction property inspection. It includes video and photographs of property or structures that could be damaged, he said.

“It’s kind of like an insurance policy. We want to document the conditions before and after to make sure that nothing was done because of the construction to cause additional damage.”

Residents in that area can expect to receive a letter from either the contractor or subcontractor around the second week of January.

“They will send them a certified letter notifying them of the project …,” O’Gorman said. “They’re only required to do the exterior of the property.

“If landowners are agreeable to allowing access inside, they’d like to document the inside as well. But it’s not required of them. They’re not trying to be invasive. They want to make sure they’re not causing damage from the work that will be done.”

The project features:

—Approximately 13,000 linear feet of levee improvements, including earthen levees, sheet pile I-walls and improvements at Pump Station No. 6.

—Existing levee along Lakefront and Cook-Collins Canal. The project will raise crown elevation 4 feet on average.

—Auburn Levee improvements, which is Pump Station No. 6 to Justa Street. The existing crown elevation will be between plus 5 and 6 feet. The proposed top of the wall is elevation plus 9 feet, and the top of embankment plus 5 feet.

The existing footprint will be widened with a centerline shift towards the flood side.

—Cook-Collins Canal – steel sheet pile.

—Auburn Segment –1. Main travel lanes, steel sheet pile. 2. Entrance and exit ramps, concrete capped I-wall. 3. Existing culvert to be extended on west side of U.S. 90 at transition.

The Siracusaville Levee Reach project started in June, and construction is set to end in April 2017. The estimated construction cost is $1.9 million.

Two additional projects are set to begin construction in 2017.

The La. 70 project, which is Phase 1 of TE-116, is under final design. The road will be used as a portion of flood alignment.

Construction is estimated to begin June 2017 and end January 2018. The estimated construction cost is $2.5 million.

The pump station and drainage project is Phase 2 of TE-116. It is currently in a preliminary design phase. Construction could begin in August 2017 and end August 2018.

There are plans to relocate Pump Stations 3 and 4 out to the lake.

The flood protection project is sponsored by the Consolidated Gravity Drainage District 2 of St. Mary Parish and St. Mary Levee District.

It is funded in part by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.