The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, recently awarded a contract for constructing the fifth levee reach on the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain (WSLP) Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction project. This contract will construct approximately 1.0 miles of the 17.5-mile-long levee system that will provide 100-year level risk reduction to the area primarily in St. John the Baptist, St. James and St. Charles Parish.

The contract for WSLP-106 was awarded on September 12, 2023, to Dynamic Group, LLC, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This section of the levee is approximately 1.0 miles long. The contract at award is $49,804,593.87. Work will be performed in St. John the Baptist Parish. The levee elevation will be 11 feet. The contract is scheduled to be completed in Summer 2027.

“In the past 12 months the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded $261,721,276.00 for the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane and Storm Reduction Project,” said Col. Cullen Jones, New Orleans District Commander. “This project continues USACE’s commitment along with its partners at the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and Pontchartrain Levee District to providing storm surge risk reduction for more than 60,000 people in the St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. James parishes in southeast Louisiana.”

The West Shore Lake Pontchartrain project will achieve 100-year storm surge risk reduction by a variety of structural and non-structural features to include: levees, floodwalls, and pumps. While these features will reduce risk from storm surge associated with tropical events, they do not specifically reduce risk of flooding from significant rainfall. The project design team continues to work with the Non-Federal sponsor to acquire Rights of Entry (ROE) and coordinate with utilities and pipelines within the project footprint. Contracts completed include test sections, clay stockpiles, sand stockpiles, sand placement, and access road construction.