The West Return Floodwall is a project to construct a new
flood wall in the
Jefferson Parish Jefferson may refer to:
Names
* Jefferson (surname)
* Jefferson (given name)
People
* Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States
* Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foot ...
lakefront area of
. The goal is to reduce flooding risk for residences and businesses caused by a storm surge associated with an event that has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year.
Location
The project is located on the east bank of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
at the western end of Jefferson Parish. The West Return Floodwall runs along the St. Charles and Jefferson Parish line from the
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport to
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 ...
.
Composition
The floodwall, traveling north to south along the parish line, will tie into the Jefferson Parish Lakefront levees and the St. Charles Parish risk reduction features. The T-wall will reduce the risk from storm surges entering the La Branche wetlands from Lake Pontchartrain. The entire reach of the existing floodwall will be replaced with a larger, more robust T-wall. The new T-wall will be built on the flood side of the existing floodwall. The old floodwall will then be removed once construction of the new wall is complete.
Status
Construction project began in the summer of 2010. In order to expedite construction, the project has been divided into two separate contracts; the contract to construct the northern segment from
I-10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...
north to the lake was awarded in July 2010.
[Grissett, Sheil]
"Corps of Engineers awards first contract for West Return Canal floodwall in Kenner"
''NOLA.com'', July 15, 2010. The contract to construct the southern segment from I-10 south to the airport was awarded in July 2010, however due to a protest, a stop work order was issued shortly after the award date. An investigation by
Government Accountability Office
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal govern ...
is underway to resolve the protest and a three- to four-month delay is possible before construction can proceed.
Notes
{{coord missing, New Orleans
Flood barriers
Buildings and structures in New Orleans
Flood control in the New Orleans metropolitan area