Mississippi River sediment will restore wetlands just below Venice

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., Oak Brook, Ill., has been awarded a contract to begin a precedent-setting project to restore south Louisiana wetlands through the diversion of Mississippi River sediment and water.

Under the $3.6 million contract awarded in August, Great Lakes' dredge California will cut through the river's low, narrow bank six miles below Venice. This would send sediment and water into West Bay at 20,000 cu. ft. per second.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Louisiana Department of Natural

Resources will share the cost 85 percent federal and 15 percent local. Construction began in September.

It is the first phase of the $22.3 million West Bay Sediment Diversion Project to restore 10,000 acres of wetlands over 20 years.

The project is the first to restore coastal Louisiana through the large-scale diversion of sediments and fresh water directly from the Mississippi River into coastal marshes. No structure or gates will be built to operate the diversion.

"This project will harness the natural land-building power of the river and mimic the natural processes that formed coastal Louisiana," said Gregory Miller, the Corps' project manager. "Once this area was coastal wetland, but now it is shallow, open water."

An interim channel will be dug first, designed to limit flow to 20,000 cu. ft. per second (cfs) at average river stage. If experience proves it feasible, the channel would be enlarged to discharge 50,000 cfs into West Bay.

The interim diversion will be closely monitored before the larger channel is cut. A relatively small portion of riverbank and adjacent wetlands will be excavated to build the diversion channel. The project will be built under the federal Coastal Wetlands, Planning, Protection and Restoration Act, also known as the Breaux Act.

Project will help water circulation in Atchafalaya Basin

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has designed a water-management project to provide water circulation improvements and sediment management in south Louisiana's great Atchafalaya Basin river swamp.

The purpose of the Buffalo Cove Water Management Unit is to enhance fish and wildlife resources. It would benefit more than 7,500 acres initially and 53,000 to 58,000 acres eventually. It is located in the lower basin in Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary parishes.

A 75-page draft environmental assessment is now available from the Corps of Engineers. Also available is a draft "finding of no significant impact" or FONSI, which if adopted would give the environmental green light for construction.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to begin construction in 2004 on Buffalo Cove, the first water management unit in the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System project.

The Buffalo Cove project proposes "to improve interior circulation within the swamp, remove barriers to north-south flow, provide input of oxygenated, low temperature river water, and prevent or manage sediment input into the interior swamps," said Larry Hartzog, a Corps freshwater biologist.

DOTD recaps previous fiscal year spending

The Louisiana Dept. of Transportation and Development let to contract 318 construction projects totaling approximately $534 million during the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to DOTD Secretary Kam Movassaghi.

The dollar value represents a $12 million increase over last year's construction contract lettings and continues a 10-year trend of increased productivity with fewer employees.

"Since 1992," Movassaghi said, "we increased our average annual construction project lettings by 78 percent, but lost 250 employees during that same time.

"Doing more with less is not new for DOTD," he said. "Although the Louisiana Transportation Trust Fund created in 1989 provides a dedicated source of revenue, the fuel tax has never been adjusted for inflation or rising construction costs. Since 1989, the buying value of a dollar has decreased to about 60 cents, so doing more with less is an annual challenge for us."

Compared to past average lettings of $50 million per year, DOTD issued $172 million of TIMED project lettings under its accelerated construction plan.

"Our targeted spending on the TIMED program this year was $162 million," Movassaghi said. "We actually let 20 TIMED construction projects valued at $172 million. Additionally, we completed seven TIMED project segments, two clearing and grubbing contracts and 29 miles of brand new highway."