The Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Lake Borgne Surge Barrier is a storm

surge barrier A flood barrier, surge barrier or storm surge barrier is a specific type of floodgate, designed to prevent a storm surge or spring tide from flooding the protected area behind the barrier. A surge barrier is almost always part of a larger flood p ...

constructed near the confluence of and across the

Gulf Intracoastal Waterway The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is the portion of the Intracoastal Waterway located along the Gulf Coast of the United States. It is a navigable inland waterway running approximately from Carrabelle, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas. The waterw ...

(GIWW) and the

Mississippi River Gulf Outlet Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississ ...

(MRGO) near

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. The barrier runs generally north-south from a point just east of Michoud Canal on the north bank of the GIWW and just south of the existing

Bayou Bienvenue Bayou Bienvenue is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 20, 2011 bayou and "ghost swamp" in southeastern Louisiana. It runs along the political border between Orleans P ...

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

structure. Navigation gates where the barrier crosses the GIWW and Bayou Bienvenue can be worked to reduce the risk of

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the n ...

coming from

Lake Borgne Lake Borgne (french: Lac Borgne, es, Lago Borgne) is a lagoon of the Gulf of Mexico in southeastern Louisiana. Although early maps show it as a lake surrounded by land, coastal erosion has made it an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Its name comes fro ...

and/or the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

. Another navigation gate ( Seabrook Floodgate) has been constructed in the Seabrook vicinity, where the IHNC meets

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from west ...

, to block a storm surge from entering the IHNC from the Lake.

Purpose

The

Inner Harbor Navigation Canal The Industrial Canal is a 5.5 mile (9 km) waterway in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The waterway's proper name, as used by the U.S. Army United States Army Corps of Engineers, Corps of Engineers and on NOAA nautical charts, is Inne ...

(IHNC) surge barrier was authorized by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

in 2006. The barrier is designed to reduce the risk of storm damage to some of the region's most vulnerable areas -

New Orleans East New Orleans East is the eastern section of New Orleans, the newest section of the city. It is bounded by the Industrial Canal, the Intracoastal Waterway and Lake Pontchartrain. Developed extensively from the 1950s onward, its numerous residential ...

, metro New Orleans, the

9th Ward The Ninth Ward or 9th Ward is a distinctive region of New Orleans, Louisiana, which is located in the easternmost downriver portion of the city. It is geographically the largest of the 17 Wards of New Orleans. On the south, the Ninth Ward is bound ...

, and

St. Bernard Parish St. Bernard Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Bernard; es, Parroquia de San Bernardo) is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat and largest community is Chalmette. The parish was formed in 1807. St. Bernard Parish is part of ...

. This project aims to protect these areas from storm surge coming from the

and

Status

The project was funded by the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

of 2009. In April 2008, the Corps awarded a

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

contract to Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure for the Lake Borgne Surge Barrier, making this project the largest design-build civil works project in Corps history. It is highly unusual for a civil works project to be designed and constructed simultaneously. The expedited process was necessary, however, given the compressed time frame for achieving the 100-year level of risk reduction in 2011. In October 2008, the New Orleans District Commander of the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

signed the Tier 2 portion of the Individual Environmental Report (IER), which investigated alternative alignments and designs within the location range identified by Tier 1 and explained the impacts of these alignments and

footprints Footprints are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking or running. Hoofprints and pawprints are those left by animals with hoof, hooves or paws rather than foot, feet, while "shoeprints" is the specific term for prints made by ...

, construction materials and methods, and other design details. After the completion of the IER, a Notice to Proceed was issued to Shaw. In December 2008, the Corps held a

groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...

ceremony to mark the start of test pile driving. Construction of the barrier's

flood wall A flood wall (or floodwall) is a primarily vertical artificial barrier designed to temporarily contain the waters of a river or other waterway which may rise to unusual levels during seasonal or extreme weather events. Flood walls are mainly u ...

began on 9 May 2009. On 21 October 2009 the last of the 1,271 main piles was driven. On 29 August 2012 (the seventh anniversary of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

), the barrier was used for the first time, to protect the city from Hurricane Isaac. By June 2013, all major construction had been completed.

Construction

The COE accomplished this project via the design-build delivery method. The main barrier consists of 1,271 concrete piles across and long, weighing 96 tonnes each. Behind those piles, steel piles are driven at an angle of 2 horizontal to 3 vertical. The steel piles are 288 feet long and are installed in two sections, with the lower 158-foot section driven and the upper 130-foot section fitted on top and welded in place. A precast concrete pile cap is placed on top of the steel batter piles and concrete plumb piles to join them. Two gates were constructed in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway navigation channel. One gate is closed with two sector gate leaves, the other gate with a barge swing gate, comparable to a caisson. In the Bayou Bienvenue navigation channel, a vertical lift gate was installed for use with recreational craft and shrimpers.

Features

* Typical flood wall and the MRGO closure flood wall (over a mile long)Finite Element SSI Analyses of IHNC Flood Wall
/ref> * 150-foot wide navigable floodgate on the GIWW—a steel sector gate (42 feet tall)A Design-Build Success: The GIWW Sector Gate Monolith
/ref>Sector Gate Monolith Pile Foundation
/ref> * 150-foot wide navigable bypass floodgate on the GIWW—a concrete barge swing gate * 56-foot wide navigable floodgate on Bayou Bienvenue—a steel lift gate * Concrete T-walls on land, at the north and south ends of the Lake Borgne barrier * Approach walls at the GIWW sector gate and the Bayou Bienvenue gate * Navigation gate in the Seabrook vicinity *

Marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

enhancement with dredged organic material - As organic material is dredged from waterways in preparation for new construction, it will be deposited in nearby

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

habitats to enhance environmental conditions

Engineering

COWI Marine North America, formerly Ben C. Gerwick, Inc., provided the detailed designs and drawingsInner Harbor Navigation Canal Hurricane Protection Project
/ref> for * The main barrier, including the flood wall and the MRGO closure * The GIWW sector gate monolith walls and foundation * The GIWW bypass concrete barge swing gate * The GIWW bypass concrete barge swing gate mechanical operating systems * Approach walls at the GIWW sector gate * Scour stone protection for the barrier and gates INCA (now TETRA TECH, INC.) provided the detailed designs and drawings for: * GIWW Sector Gate * GIWW Bypass Approach Walls * Bayou Bienvenue Lift Gate Monolith * Bayou Bienvenue Tower and Bridge * Bayou Bienvenue Lift Gate (with Waldemar Nelson) * Bayou Bienvenue Approach Walls

Sources

{{Reflist, 2

External links

US Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District Web Site

Dams in Louisiana Dikes in the United States Flood barriers Intracoastal Waterway Buildings and structures in New Orleans Flood control in the New Orleans metropolitan area