Bollinger Shipyards Delivers Flood Gate
Bollinger Shipyards, with operations scattered throughout south Louisiana, has delivered a steel flood gate, measuring 84 feet long, 40 feet wide and 19 feet high, to the St. Mary Parish Levee District. The flood gate, built at Bollinger’s shipyard in Amelia, La., is an integral part of the Bayou Teche Flood Control Structure. Levee district personnel broke ground on the structure in January 2020.
The flood gate and related structure is designed to provide flood risk reduction during a 25-year rain event and a 10-foot storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico.
“Bollinger is proud to play a role in helping to protect the homes, businesses and communities along Bayou Teche,” Bollinger President and CEO Ben Bordelon said. “After what has been a particularly tough 2020 storm season for south Louisiana, it’s important to get projects like this completed before next season so folks can have peace of mind.”
The Bayou Teche Flood Control Structure will span the bayou where it intersects with the Charenton Canal. In the past, tropical systems in the Gulf have pushed water up the Charenton Canal into Bayou Teche, threatening homes and businesses around the bayou. The structure, which will consist of levees extending from the high ground into the bayou, the swinging flood gate and guide walls, will offer storm surge protection to an area with a population of about 13,500 and around 6,500 properties.
The $11.4 million Bayou Teche Flood Control Structure project is being funded, in part, by a grant from the Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development’s Louisiana State Wide Flood Control Program and by the St. Mary Parish Levee District. The flood wall is the first of two projects Bollinger is building for the St. Mary Levee District and the shipyard’s fifth overall flood control structure to build.
“I’m proud of our team at Bollinger Shipyards’ Amelia facility,” Bordelon said. “With six named hurricanes impacting the Gulf region and the COVID-19 global pandemic, they remained steady and were able to safely deliver a high-quality product despite facing some serious adversity. I’m also thankful for our partnership with Sealevel Construction and St. Mary Parish Levee District.”
