Grant may fund Bayou Teche flood protection project

The St. Mary Levee District commission approved the district to put in a pre-application for a Statewide Flood Control Grant to help fund the Bayou Teche flood protection project at the intersection of Bayou Teche and Charenton Canal.
The commission held its monthly meeting Thursday at Berwick Town Hall.
“The Bayou Teche area has had some flood losses as a result of hurricanes that perhaps we could get some assistance in funding. That is a viable project that we’re pursuing, but we’ve never identified the funding source for it,” Matte said.
The estimated construction cost for the flood protection project is $9.7 million to $9.9 million and modeling for the project is ongoing, Jeff Peña of CB&I infrastructure company said.
The flood protection structure will be installed at Goat Island, Matte said. The Bayou Teche project is attempting to put a flood protection structure at the juncture of Bayou Teche and the Charenton Canal. Engineers are trying to determine whether a structure at that intersection will affect water flow to the west, he said.
St. Mary Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte was told the updated Levee System Evaluation Report for the Wax Lake East levees being evaluated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be complete by April 24, Matte said.
The report is under review, and Matte expects to get feedback soon so levee district officials can start looking at what issues need to be addressed, Matte said.
Levee district officials are waiting to get an answer as to whether there will be any impact to wetlands to proposed work on the Wax Lake East levees though officials do not expect any wetlands impact, Matte said. Matte expects to get that approval within two weeks and then be able to go to full design on the project. The cost estimate to repair and raise that portion of levees is $200,000, he said.
Parish officials are looking to raise those levees in order to certify them for 100-year flood protection, which is the level they need to meet for flood insurance purposes, Matte said.
The Franklin Canal Pump Station design has to be re-bid due to missing information in the bid process, Peña said. The pump station will be operational in probably nine or 10 months, Peña said. The pump station would be used to pump water when the Franklin Canal Flood Control structure is in use.
Also on the west end of the parish, the Hanson Canal and Yellow Bayou project construction bids are scheduled to be received Thursday. Those projects would address flooding problems those areas faced during Hurricane Ike, Matte said.
Kevin O’Gorman of T. Baker Smith said engineers looked at what could be done to lower the cost of the Morgan City Levee Improvements project, which aims to certify the city’s backwater levees for flood protection.
Matte said last week that the levees may have to be rebuilt on different soil because the stability of the soil might not be adequate to provide 100-year flood protection.
Engineers conducted further geotechnical analysis at the existing pump stations on the levees and have met contractors to see where costs could be saved, O’Gorman said. Levee district officials are looking at how the cost of the project can be reduced while still meeting the certification standards, Matte said.
The commission authorized putting eight gates on the former Atchafalaya Basin Levee District levees to try to limit traffic on those levees due to damage vehicles have caused to the levees.
A total of 21 gates were originally proposed on the west end of the parish, Levee District Operations Manager Michael Brocato Jr. said. The stretch of levees where officials are discussing putting gates is from Centerville to Charenton, he said.
The majority of the major damage is around the Myette Point boat landing, Brocato said.
Levee District Attorney Bill Bourgeois said, “Part of the problem relating to damage of the levee is that the road’s not being maintained, and we need to find out why it’s not being maintained.”
Commission President Bill Hidalgo said the gates should only limit travel on the top of the levees.
In other business, the commission went into executive session for discussion and any action concerning Fontenot’s Precision Iron Works vs. St. Mary Levee District.